Spanish researchers found “no sign” of higher levels of Covid-19 infections in a mass music event held in Barcelona last month, the BBC reports.
Of the roughly 5,000 people in attendance, six tested positive within 14 days of the gig. This is a lower infection rate than currently seen in the general population and half the infection rate among people in the same age range. Infectious disease specialist Josep Maria Llibre concluded that there was “no sign that suggests transmission took place during the event.”
Researchers also found that four of the six people who tested positive were not infected at the event itself, but elsewhere. All attendees, who tested negative for the virus beforehand, wore masks but were not socially distanced.
The rate of infection among attendees was half the rate of people of the same age in Barcelona, researchers found.
“There is no sign that suggests transmission took place during the event,” infectious disease specialist Josep Maria Llibre told a news conference on Tuesday.
The band involved in the experiment, Love of Lesbian, thanked the event’s organisers and scientific advisers.
“We hope that from now on, after these excellent results, the world of culture will be listened to as it deserves to be,” it tweeted.
The concert was one of the largest gatherings in Europe since the pandemic began and comes as countries across the globe seek new ways to safely hold public events.
A similar two-day experiment took place in the Netherlands in March with around 1,500 people. Read more on BBC.
