The Covid-19 PRIMACOV concert study conducted in Barcelona on December 12th at the renowned Catalan venue Sala Apolo has been a complete success with no participants testing positive for Covid-19. The show organised by the AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation, the Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol and funded by the gigantic festival Primavera Sound, has therefore demonstrated to the local authorities as well as festival-goers that safe events can be organised in 2021.
This event counted with a total of 1047 volunteers ranging between 18 and 59 years old that were randomly divided into the control group, which did not access the event, and the active group that did access. In the concert, the attendants didn’t need to social distance but they had to wear a mask that was handed to them when entering the venue. They had to wear it all time and they could only remove it to have a drink. Other measures included limited and controlled outdoor capacity for smokers, an improved ventilation system and different signal and markers to avoid large toilet lines. The concert lasted 5 hours and participants spent an average 2h and 40 minutes inside the venue.
All of the participants had previously undergone a rapid antigen test and all of them were required to come back 8 days later for a PCR nasopharyngeal test. Well, as surprising as it could sound, none of the 463 participants in the active group tested positive, while 2 of the 496 volunteers in the control group, who did not access, tested positive.
The feedback from the attendants was great and the organisers felt immensely proud and hopeful that this was a shed of light ahead the 2021 summer season. The organisers of the study concluded that:
“Attending a live music concert staged with a series of security measures that included a negative antigen test for SARS-CoV-2 done on the same day, was not associated with an increase in COVID-19 infections. Hopefully this data will pave the way to save live concerts during the COVID pandemic”
Six months away from summer, the possibility of festivals taking place it is still very uncertain, however, the success of the PRIMACOV concert are indeed very positive news after a catastrophic year for the live industry.
Image credit: Primavera Sound press
