Pollstar (06/25/21) Gottfried, Gideon

Initial findings of the U.K. government's Events Research Programme indicated a total 28 cases of COVID-19 out of 58,000 participants at venues across the country. "Of these 28 cases, the report has found 11 cases were identified as potentially infectious at an event, and a further 17 were identified as potentially infected at or around the time of an event," a report summary declared. Meanwhile, indoor events saw 10 cases recorded, and these and other estimates led the government to conclude that both indoor and outdoor events carry levels of transmission risk, especially at "pinch points, where attendees may congregate for extended periods," as well as inside "large indoor events with high crowd density and proximity and poor ventilation." The government continued that "nearly all CO2 levels recorded at the pilot events were within the bounds of reasonable ventilation benchmarks, with outdoor spaces clearly better for ventilation than indoors." It was further observed that adherence to "mitigations such as face coverings, ventilation, testing, restrictions on food and drink, and social distancing/capacity caps all contributed to reducing transmission risk." The report conceded that "low uptake of [polymerase chain reaction] testing before and after events meant evidence of direct transmission at events was challenging to determine."

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