The future of concerts? A thousand music fans gather for a free concert in Barcelona / same day test

#Spain #Rapid #Covid #Corona #Science #Concert #Barcelona

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.

'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.'

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.