Brits will be recruited to attend packed weddings, nightclubs & football matches to test safe opening as lockdown lifts
BRITS are set to be recruited to attend packed football matches, weddings and nightclubs to test if they are safe to reopen as lockdown lifts.
Volunteers would take part in the scientific trials under a government programme before restrictions on mass social gatherings are eased,
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The plan would explore what kind of testing regime and safety precautions must be put in place to make events safe this summer.
Ten pilots with different settings are set to be launched from April, it's reported.
The programme is referred to as an “events research programme” in Boris Johnson's lockdown roadmap to end Britain's Covid restrictions.
Volunteers will have to take a coronavirus test at specific times before and after events, The Times understands.
GREAT ESCAPE
The plan comes as it was announced this week that the Reading, Leeds and Camp Bestival music festivals would reopen this summer.
Under the roadmap unveiled by Boris Johnson on Monday, May 17 will mark the lifting of many indoor restrictions currently in place across the UK.
Pubs and cinemas will reopen their doors to allow customers inside and fans will once again be able to watch live sport and music at stadiums and arenas, with social distancing.
Outdoor stadiums will be limited to 25 per cent capacity up to 10,000 fans.
Smaller outdoor events will be limited to 50 per cent capacity up to 4,000 fans and indoor events 50 per cent up to 1,000 people.
The move means the final round of 2020/21 Premier League could see fans return to stadiums - some for the first time since last March.
By June 21, nightclubs will be allowed to welcome party-goers for the first time since last March under the PM's plan.
It is also hoped all restrictions on weddings will be lifted by June.
PILOT SCHEME
Under the government's pilot scheme to test if packed events are safe, a system of verification checks will be be carried before or after participants arrive, it is reported.
Air conditioning and extra ventilation will also be trialled to see if they make venues safer.
Staggered entrance and exit times may also be explored as volunteers attending crowded live events like a football match or music concert.
Under the programme, at least one couple will get married without full Covid restrictions.
Thousands of couples were forced to postpone their big days due to Covid in 2020.
WEDDING BELLS
Brides and grooms to be with ceremonies arranged this year have been on tenterhooks to discover how their plans will be affected.
The PM's roadmap this week revealed up to 15 attendees - including brides and grooms - will be allowed from April 12.
This number will rise to 30 from May 17.
It is hoped an unlimited number of guests will be allowed as all restrictions are scrapped from June 21, but the PM stressed this will be reviewed nearer the time.
Stuart Owens of the UK Weddings Taskforce said he hoped the government's scheme to test wedding safety would boost the sector.
He told The Times: "In many ways weddings are easier to control than other large-scale events because you know exactly who is coming.
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"You can engage with them both before and afterward and you can control the flow of the day.
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“Yet despite the crisis weddings have been treated as super-spreader events.
He added: “We’re engaging with the events research programme so that we can do some meaningful pilots to demonstrate that weddings are safe and allow us to get back to normal and not just [hold] a rather sombre meal for no more than thirty people that we have at the moment.”
