Connexion (02/01/21) Thompson, Hannah

France will stage a pair of "test concerts" to examine if or how public venues might reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic. The events will be held at the 8,500-capacity Dôme de Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in March and April, with no more than 1,000 healthy volunteers invited to attend. The arena will be completely disinfected, and each attendee will be have to submit to a polymerase chain reaction test before and after the concert. Results will then be compared to a similar group who did not attend the concert. Health research agency l'Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (Inserm) will closely monitor the concerts, and assess the risks of spreading COVID-19 under the new protocol. If they determine that there is no "added risk" of infection during a concert or event, then it may help pave the way for public venues to reopen. Study researcher Vincent Estorne said attendees "will be healthy volunteers who will be selected according to [specific] criteria, which will be defined by the Inserm protocol."

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