More than a thousands music fans gathered for a free concert in Barcelona to test whether same-day Covid screening can make live events sa...
More than a thousands music fans gathered for a free concert in Barcelona to test whether same-day Covid screening can make live events safe.
After passing an antigen screening, 500 of the volunteers were randomly selected to enjoy the event inside the city's Sala Apolo theatre on Saturday.
The other 500 who did not get selected in the medical study were sent home to form a control group that will allow the organisers to analyse if there was any contagion inside the concert hall despite the screening with antigen tests.
The diagnostic test produces results in 15 minutes as compared to several hours, or days, later, but is not as accurate as other types of tests.
Volunteers dance during a concert in Barcelona, Spain, on Saturday. Eager for a live music show after months of social distancing, over 1,000 fans gathered to participate in the study
People greet and hug each other before a concert in Barcelona, Spain. A total of 500 of the volunteers were randomly selected to enjoy the free concert inside the Sala Apolo theatre
Volunteers dance while wearing face masks during a concert in Barcelona as part of a study to evaluate the effectiveness of same-day Covid screening to safely hold cultural events
Carolina Rius participated in the study so she could finally experience a concert without having to remain seated and two metres apart, as currently dictated by health authorities.
The 56-year-old said: 'I really, really missed going to concerts, above all to hear some rock 'n' roll. I don't feel like a guinea pig. I feel like I am taking a stand.
'The world of culture, and above all the concert halls, are having a very bad time of it and I don't want them to shut for good.
'And if they end up choosing me in the draw to go to a concert, that will be the cherry on top.'
The study is organised by Barcelona's The Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation along with the Primavera Sound music festival. The study was given the go-ahead by the regional authorities in northeast Catalonia.
Dr Boris Revollo, the virologist who designed the study's protocols, said: 'This is not a party, this is a scientific study.'
Volunteers line up as they wait to enter a concert in Barcelona, Spain, on Saturday. After passing an antigen screening, 500 of the volunteers were randomly selected
Volunteers dance during a free concert inside Barcelona's Sala Apolo. The diagnostic test produces results in 15 minutes as compared to several hours, or days, later
People gather around a table, talking and drinking inside before a free concert in Barcelona, Spain, on Saturday, as part of a medical study
Crowds of people are seen near the bar inside Barcelona's Sala Apolo theatre. The other 500 who did not get selected in the medical study were sent home to form a control group
He insisted that the use of same-day antigen screening for large events wasn't a substitute for face masks and other sanitation rules, but he believed it could be a powerful tool to help make large events safe enough until vaccines are widespread enough to beat back Covid-19.
He said: 'This could be useful in all types of events, from cultural events, to business congresses, to sporting events.
'And young people, as we have seen, are holding their own clandestine parties because they have no other outlet.'
The 500 allowed into the five-hour music festival of rock groups and disc jockeys were required to wear FFP2 face masks and use hand disinfectant.
But social distancing on the concert floor wasn't enforced in an attempt to get as close as possible to a real concert atmosphere. The crowd revelled in the newfound freedom, dancing closely together and jostling one another for a bit of fun.
Volunteers dance while wearing face masks at a concert. Social distancing on the dance floor wasn't enforced in an attempt to get as close as possible to a real concert atmosphere
A volunteer undergoes a screening for coronavirus to see if he can join a pool of around 500 people allowed into a concert in Barcelona, Spain, on Saturday
Coronavirus tests to see if volunteers can join the pool of 500 people allowed into the free concert in Barcelona, Spain
Health workers wearing PPE screen volunteers with nasal swabs to see if they can join the free concert. The study is organised by Barcelona's The Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation along with the Primavera Sound music festival
The face masks stayed put except in the upstairs bar where organisers allowed them to be removed to have the one drink volunteers were treated to. Some people also indulged in hugs with friends.
All 1,000 of the volunteers will also undergo two PCR tests, which have a higher capacity to detect the virus than the same-day antigen test, first on Saturday before the concert and then again eight days later.
Revollo said these PCR tests will allow him and his fellow investigators to determine if any infected people got past the same-day antigen screen and, if so, did they infect others inside the show.
Spain is still under limited restrictions for the pandemic that has killed a confirmed 47,600 residents.
A volunteers undergoes a screening for coronavirus to see if he can join the pool of around 500 people allowed into the concert in Barcelona, Spain, on Saturday
Health workers screen volunteers ahead of the free concert. Dr Boris Revollo, the virologist who designed the study's protocols, said: 'This is not a party, this is a scientific study'
A worker measures the temperature of a volunteer at the entrance of the venue in Barcelona ahead of the free concert
A volunteer gives a thumbs up as his Covid test comes back as negative ahead of the concert in Barcelona, Spain, on Saturday
Concert halls have been one of the hardest hit sectors by the health restrictions applied in Spain, twice being completely shut down for several months.
In November, an association representing concert halls in Spain said that more than 25,000 shows had been cancelled because of the pandemic, costing the industry €120million ($145m) in lost revenue.
Halls were only recently allowed to reopen in Barcelona but at 50 per cent capacity or a maximum of 500 people.
Epidemiologist Joan Cayla, who has no connection to the study, said that while 'vaccines are still far off' before they reach everyone, even the successful use of antigen testing wouldn't eliminate the need to keep events small and highly controlled.
'It is very important that those attending the event act responsibly,' Cayla said. 'A certain risk of causing an outbreak exists.'
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