5,000 fans wore masks at a concert in Barcelona on Saturday night. The show, by Spanish Group Love of Lesbian, was given the go ahead on the condition that the promoters provided the concert-goers with facemasks.
The fans also took a same-day covid antigen test as part of an experiment to test the effectiveness of large scale screening. Health authorities in Spain want to make mask wearing and testing a pre-condition of attending indoor events.
Before attending on Saturday night, all of the 5,000 fans took a test at one of three testing centres in Barcelona. According to The Mail Online:
By midday, three out of 2,400 people already screened had tested positive and one had come into contact with a positive case, said Dr. Josep Maria Libre, a doctor who oversaw the testing. They were unable to attend the concert and would get a refund.
Attendees received their antigen test results in 10 to 15 minutes via an app on their phones.
Those with negative results got a code on their cellphones validating their tickets for the 7pm show.
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.
The ticket price included the test and the facemask. After the show, fan José Parejo said;
“We were able to evade reality for a while. We were inside our small concert bubble. And we were even able to remember back in time when things like this one were normal. Things that nowadays aren’t that normal, sadly.”
There’s nothing remotely normal about a healthy man taking a test for a virus to attend a concert. There’s nothing normal about 5,000 healthy young men and women wearing facemasks at a rock and roll show.
Is there any stopping this now?
