Will Coronavirus Certificates Be The Way To Allow Large Numbers Of Fans To Return To Games
The Government’s Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said ‘coronavirus certificates’ were being considered as a way of getting people back to larger events ‘in significant numbers’.
Fans are set to return to sporting events, in limited numbers, from May 17th, subject to further reviews, as a part of the government’s four-step road map out of lockdown, which could see all legal limits on social contact lifted by June 21st.
The FA Cup final and World Snooker Championship will be among a group of sporting and cultural events used as pilots to test the large-scale return of spectators to venues.
The government announced plans for a pilot programme to begin in April when it set out its road map in February for the easing of coronavirus restrictions, and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said there will be "around a dozen" events serving as tests in total.
Oliver Dowden has said that from June 21st, if all goes to plan, it is hoped to get people back in significant numbers and in the meantime they are piloting the different things that will enable that to happen but clearly it will have to be done in a Covid-secure way.
A review is being carried out on the viability of ‘Covid certificates’ as a means of facilitating the return to sports.
The World Snooker Championships in April will be used as a pilot event to test return of spectators.
It has been conceded by government that current social distancing measures make it ‘very, very difficult’ for such as theatres and smaller indoor events to go ahead and the government are looking at ways of mitigating against having the sort of current social distancing measures currently in place but in the meantime we must proceed with caution.
