Audience of 5,000 Attend Covid-19 Live Show Experiment in Barcelona
As vaccinations continue around the world, the live music industry is preparing for its return, and last night (March 27) in Barcelona one of the first major steps was taken toward a mass gathering event. Organizers called upon Spanish rock band Love of Lesbian to headline a concert that was also viewed as a Covid-19 experiment.
The concert was allowed to go on with the permission of health authorities in Spain, but precautions were taken in order to maximize the safety for all of those attending.
Prior to entering the show, all audience members had to be tested at one of three locations across Barcelona. During the testing, only three of the first 2,400 people yielded a positive result and were not allowed to attend. The test results were then all confirmed and reported to the attendees within 10 to 15 minutes via an app on their phones.
The tickets for the show went for around $23 and those attending received the cost of the rapid test and a mask to wear at the concert as part of the price. Concert goers were required to wear masks throughout the show.
In addition, those with heart disease, cancer or those who had been in contact with someone who had Covid-19 were asked not to sign up for the show.
The Love of Lesbian show was not the first experimental concert held in the country, as various experiments have been tried to see the success rates of potentially returning mass gathering concert events without social distancing. However, it was deemed the largest experiment so far when it comes to a mass gathering event.
“This is another small step toward being able to hold concerts and cultural events” during the pandemic, said Dr. Boris Revollo to The Guardian. Revollo was the virologist involved in the design of the health protocols for the event.
According to NME, Barcelona's Primavera Sound festival back in December welcomed 1,000 people to a 1,600 capacity venue. When the test results from the show came back in January, it was found there was zero infection rate. Germany and England have also runs tests through venues looking into the ventilation for the return of indoor shows.