Unrestricted Music Festival Left Over 1,000 People With Coronavirus | the Chronicle

A music Festival open air which took place in early July in the Netherlands, in the presence of some 20,000 people, left more than 1,000 infected with the coronavirus despite the fact that the organization of the event required a negative test or a vaccination certificate for entry.

Attempts to return to the old “normality” in Europe seem to indicate that the virus cannot be underestimated yet. This was demonstrated by the unsuccessful experiment carried out at a Dutch music festival, during which neither the jugular nor the social distance were obligatory.

The result? More than 1050 participants -and it continues- to Music festival cut off in the town of Utrecht they tested positive for Covid-19 In the days following the event which took place on the first weekend of July, Dutch media and the local regional health committee reported.

The Verknipt had an audience of 20,000 and was billed as a safe return to music festivals after the pandemic, prohibiting entry to anyone without proof of full vaccination or a negative PCR test.

“You can’t say that all of these people were infected during the festival itself. It is also possible that they were infected while traveling to the festival or the night before going to the festival or having an after party. So they are (the cases) all linked to the festival, but we cannot say 100% that they were infected at the festival “, declared Lennart van Trigt, spokesperson for the health authorities of Utrecht.

As, Sharon Dijksma, mayor of the city, posted a selfie of the event. He later apologized and said that (make the festival) “it was an error in judgment”.

After recognizing that “the rate of coronavirus infection in the Netherlands increased much faster than expected since the almost complete reopening of the partnership June 26 “, the government announced on July 9 that nightclubs and live performances would close again until at least August 13.

On July 14, it was reported that the cases of Covid-19 in the Netherlands increased by 500% last week. 51,957 infected were reported between July 6 and 13, compared to 8,541 recorded during the previous seven days.

The festival was one of the first mass gatherings to take place in the Netherlands after the government relaxed most capacity restrictions on clubs and festivals at the end of June. All organizers of such events were urged to ensure that attendees were vaccinated or met other testing requirements.

Verknipt organizers said they carefully planned the event and met these requirements, including a negative Covid test, carried out 40 hours before the start of the festival. Health authorities have indicated that it was a very serious mistake in the organization, since tests carried out 24 hours in advance should have been necessary to reduce the time difference with the risk of contagion.

In recent months, music festivals have been held in different countries with different results. At New Zealand Several mass events and concerts have taken place without having a significant effect on the increase in Covid-19 cases.

At Germany The Re-start 19 experimental concert took place, which brought together 2,000 people in August 2020 and concluded that well-ventilated spaces are key to reducing the spread of the virus.