Barcelona (AFP)

The experience has something to give hope to the world of culture: there was, according to the organizers, "no sign" of contagion after the test concert of 5,000 people at the end of March in Barcelona, ​​Spain where a masked audience could dance, without distance.

Two weeks after this Love of Lesbian concert held on March 27, "there is no sign that transmission (of the coronavirus) took place during the event, which was the objective of this study ", according to the data provided by the public health system, said, delighted, the doctor Josep Maria Llibre, of the Germans Trias i Pujol hospital in Badalone, during a press conference.

The audience, who had been fully antigen tested before the concert, wore FFP2 masks.

This concert "proves that we can carry out a massive test campaign in one morning and in a fluid manner", noted the doctor.

Fifteen days later, only six positive "asymptomatic" cases out of the 5,000 spectators were officially detected as part of the usual checks of the health system and the organizers are certain "that for four of these six cases, transmission did not occur. held during the concert ".

As for the other two, "there is a very high percentage of probability that they were not contaminated here (in the auditorium, editor's note), because the measures we have put in place are safe", said infectious disease specialist Boris Revollo.

The organizers, however, were unable to indicate how many people had taken a test in the two weeks following the concert because unless they showed symptoms or were case-contact, the participants had no reason. perform one.

It is therefore possible that asymptomatic people may have gone undetected.

- No "super transmission" -

Contacted by AFP, Doctor Revollo confirms that it is not possible to establish with certainty the number of cases of infection, if there were to have been during the event.

"We can say that there was no + super transmission + during the concert. It shows that we can organize safe events to avoid the transmission of the coronavirus", explains the latter.

The public had simply given permission for a possible positive test occurring in the two weeks after the event to be notified by the health authorities to the organizers of the study.

In addition to the FFP2 tests and masks, ventilation as well as reception capacities in critical places such as toilets were strictly controlled.

Organized by a group of festivals, musical promoters and the Germans Trias i Pujol hospital who wanted to show that concerts are possible despite the pandemic, this experience is one of the few to have taken place in Europe in current music.

Another test concert took place in early March in the Netherlands with 1,300 people.

But it was already in Barcelona, ​​in December, with the same team of researchers, that 500 participants had attended a concert, standing, glued to each other but masked.

This time, they had been tested for PCR and eight days later, none had been infected.

"Once again, Barcelona and Barcelona culture are pioneers in an unprecedented situation where cultural activity must be preserved with all health guarantees", rejoiced Jaume Collboni, first deputy mayor of Barcelona during this conference of hurry.

"It is possible to relax the restrictions and combine this with cultural activities that must resume," he said.

“The eyes of the world were on us,” enthuses Angels Ponsa, culture advisor in the Catalan regional government.

"On the day of the concert, we hugged each other with tears in our eyes: it seemed impossible to us and we made it possible," she added.

© 2021 AFP