5,000 attend rock concert in Barcelona after COVID-19 screen

Five thousand music lovers are set to attend a rock concert in Barcelona after passing a COVID-19 screening, to test its effectiveness in preventing outbreaks at large cultural events

BARCELONA, Spain — Five thousand music lovers are set to attend a rock concert in Barcelona on Saturday after passing a same-day COVID-19 screening, to test its effectiveness in preventing outbreaks of the virus at large cultural events.

People with heart disease, cancer, or those who have been in contact with someone infected by COVID-19 in recent weeks were asked not to sign up. Ticket buyers chose between three venues in Barcelona where they must undergo a quick antigen test on Saturday morning. Those with negative results get a code on their mobile phone validating their ticket for the show at the city’s Palau Sant Jordi stating at 7 p.m.

Organizers say it is the first commercial event of this size held in Europe during the pandemic.

The show is sold out. The tickets, ranging from 23-28 euros ($27-33), include the cost of the test and the high-quality face mask that is obligatory except when eating or drinking at designated areas.

The concert is backed by local authorities and by experts of Barcelona’s The Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation, which also organized a case study around a smaller concert of 500 people in December. They said that the results of that preliminary case study showed that pre-screening with antigen tests and the use of face masks succeeded in preventing infections inside the concert despite there being no social distancing rules.

In addition to being 10 times larger than the concert in December, this time there will be no control group maintained outside the concert hall.

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source: abcnews.go.com