Barcelona Concert Tests Use of Same-Day COVID-19 Screening

[Teletubby 150,508]

More than 1,000 Barcelona residents gathered Saturday (Dec. 12) to participate in a medical study to evaluate the effectiveness of same-day coronavirus screening to safely hold cultural events.

After passing an antigen screening, 500 of the volunteers were randomly selected to enjoy a free concert inside Barcelona’s Apolo Theater.
They were allowed into the five-hour music festival of rock groups and disc jockeys had to wear FFP2 face masks and use hand disinfectant. Social distancing on the concert floor wasn’t enforced in an attempt to get as close as possible to a real concert atmosphere. 

The other 500 who didn’t get selected were sent home. They will form a control group that will allow the organizers to analyze if there was any contagion inside the concert hall despite the screening with antigen tests, which while not as accurate as other types of tests, do produce results in 15 minutes as compared to several hours, or days, later.

The study is organized by Barcelona’s The Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation along with the Primavera Sound music festival. The study was given the go-ahead by the regional authorities in northeast Catalonia.

All 1,000 will also undergo two PCR tests, which have a higher capacity to detect the virus than the same-day antigen test, first on Saturday before the concert, and again eight days later. The virologist who designed the study’s protocols said these tests will allow him and his fellow investigators to determine if any infected people got past the same-day antigen screen and, if so, did they infect others inside the show.

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/9498924/barcelona-concert-covid-19-test-screening/
https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-coronavirus-pandemic-barcelona-spain-6f05f2148b7a10627e0a13b81fbeb5d8

[elijahfan 26,403]

That's a very cool initiative, and pretty much the way to go if we want culture to survive. I hope the experiment leads to encouraging results.

[PunkTheFunk 124,499]

Gaga:

[Xoxo Adriana 15,040]

2021/22 could be a potential comeback for concerts! we love 2 see it

but tbh more like 2022 tbh, they may test this further in 2021 but not for like huge events.