Test results from Liverpool trial events with no mask wearing or social distancing have shown no detectable spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The study, conducted in April and May, included a three-day business conference, a concert in Sefton Park, and two nightclub events. Participants were required to present negative test results upon arrival and take a PCR test five days after the event.
Out of 13,000 total attendees, 11 infections were reported in connection to the series of trials after they concluded. To be sure, BBC News have reported that less than half of the attendees returned their PCR test results after the five day period. While Liverpool Director of Public Health Matt Ashton declared the trials “undoubtedly a success,” he noted that there were “definitely groups of people who were infected afterwards.”
Ashton clarified that there was a possibility of infection after the trials on account of some attendees already knowing one another, living together, or operating in close social contact with one another. Speaking on the results of the trials, Professor Iain Buchan from the University of Liverpool said that “Timely data, and quick action to trace and test contacts of people testing positive, both before and after events, was key to containing potential outbreaks.”
Buchan also noted the importance of venues maximizing ventilation indoors and exclusively issuing tickets to attendees who had provided proof of vaccination or negative test results before events.
