Barcelona concert shows 'light at the end of the tunnel'

A trial concert in Barcelona prompted no major coronavirus outbreaks, organizers said on Tuesday, expressing hopes that mid-sized cultural events could soon return to public life.

Live concerts, exhibitions and sporting occasions have either been canceled or held without live audience since the pandemic took hold in Europe some 14 months ago.

However, some 5,000 people did attend an indoor trial concert in the Catalan capital a month ago. Before the event, they were screened and tested for coronavirus using antigen tests. The crowd was also instructed to wear FFP2 masks, with the organizers limiting bathroom capacity.

Only six people reported testing positive 15 days later. However, a member of a medical team overseeing the event said he end his colleagues were "certain that in four of these six cases, transmission did not take place during the concert."

"There is no sign that suggests transmission took place during the event," Josep Maria Llibre, an infectious diseases specialist from the Germans Trias i Pujol hospital told a news conference.

And concert organizer Jordi Herreruela said: "There is light at the end of the tunnel."

Number of cases well below average

According to Llibre, the six infections are fewer than the average contagion spread for Barcelona at the time. He said the six cases would extrapolate to an incidence rate of 131 per 100,000 people, when the city-wide tally was almost double that.

Boris Revollo, the virologist involved in the design of the safety procedures at the Palau Sant Jordi arena, said he could not "categorically" rule out that the other two people were infected during the concert but there was a "very high probability" the transmissions had occurred elsewhere.

"The measures which we implemented were very safe," he added.

Deputy mayor of Barcelona wants to 'restart cultural activities'

The deputy mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, said the results of the study show "it is possible to relax" virus health restrictions and "restart cultural activities."

The Palau venue can host up to 17,000 people, but the 5,000 in attendance last month were not allowed into the stands and instead were restricted to the dance floor.

Health authorities gave special permission to allow up to 5,000 people into the show by Spanish rock group Love of Lesbian.

jsi/xx (AP, AFP)