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Why the Barcelona test concert says almost nothing about safety in large gatherings

2021-05-30T13:22:03.329Z


While a similar experience will take place on Saturday at the Arena de Paris-Bercy, the first Catalan experience does not allow us to conclude "that all large gatherings are safe".


Due to the

"strict conditions"

in which the first European test concert, held in Barcelona in December, was organized, researchers warn, in a study published on May 28, that it will be difficult to generalize the results - reassuring - obtained, with a view to reopening the cultural sector.

Nearly 500 spectators had attended, masked, a concert without physical distancing in a concert hall of the Spanish city and no positive case had been detected among the PCR tests carried out eight days later (against two in the control group) , the researchers announced in early January.

Read also: Indochina concert-test: what to expect spectators at the Accor Arena in Bercy

The article, featured in the British journal

The Lancet Infectious Diseases

, is the version published and reviewed by other independent scientists of these early findings.

“Our study provides initial data showing that indoor musical events can take place without increasing the risk of Sars-CoV-2 transmission when precautionary measures are taken, but (...) (she) does not necessarily mean that all large gatherings are safe, ”

warns Dr Josep Maria Llibre, from the Germans Trias i Pujol hospital in Badalone.

It invites in particular to analyze the conclusions according to the epidemic situation in Spain at that time, marked by a relatively low level of circulation of the virus.

“The parameters of the pandemic are constantly changing.

Large vaccination campaigns, variations in the incidence rate in a given location and the emergence of more transmissible variants of Sars-CoV-2 are all elements that can have an impact ”

on the results, adds. he, calling for

“more studies” to

test

“different scenarios and measures that take into account the local context”

.

Read also: Akhenaton "disillusioned" after the cancellation of the IAM test concert in Marseille

The researchers also underline that this concert was held

under "strict conditions"

(wearing of FFP2 mask, security agents responsible for avoiding crowd movements, optimized ventilation), difficult to reproduce when the live music sector resumes. his activities. In particular, they could represent

"a prohibitive cost"

for some organizers, while

"testing thousands of people in a few hours (...) constitutes a logistical challenge"

, they admit.

The same team had performed another test concert, on a larger scale, on March 27, with 5,000 spectators, and concluded that there was no sign of contagion, but the participants had not this time been systematically tested afterwards. Other countries have carried out similar experiments to test the risks of contamination during a concert framed by a strict protocol, in particular in the Netherlands at the beginning of March (1,300 people) and in the United Kingdom on May 2 (5,000 people without a mask) . The first test of this type will take place on Saturday in France, with 5,000 spectators tested negative beforehand and a compulsory mask.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-05-30

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