Without a mask and by the thousands, clubbers are expected at a nightclub in Liverpool, in the north of England, on Friday April 30 and Saturday 1er May, for a test event organized by the British government to assess the risks of contagion to Covid-19.
Friday and Saturday, from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. local time, the public will be able to dance at the Circus disco in Liverpool, two evenings hosted by several DJs, including Sven Väth, Fatboy Slim, or Yousef Zahar, founder of this nightclub . Three thousand people are expected at each of the two evenings, for which entrance tickets have all been sold.
The First Dance is now fully SOLD OUT! We cant wait to see you all this weekend, it’s been a while … #HWFG ?? https://t.co/iMFpZl35j4
To access the nightclub, you will need to provide proof of a negative antigenic screening for Covid-19. “Participants will also be asked to perform a PCR test before and after the event to inform research and ensure that any transmission of the virus is properly monitored”, explains the government on its website. Hand disinfectant gel will be made available on site, but the wearing of a mask will not be compulsory.
Called “The First Dance”, this event “Is going to be a historic moment for electronic music and all events in the UK”, rejoiced DJ Yousef in a statement.
These evenings are part of a dozen pilot tests aimed at studying the risks of transmission of Covid-19 within crowds, in order to better organize the reopening to the public of large sporting and cultural events.
Reopening of English clubs scheduled for June 21
Among the other tests conducted, the Brit Awards ceremony, British pop music awards, will take place on May 11 in front of an audience of 4,000 people; and the FA Cup final on May 15 at Wembley Stadium will also be attended by spectators.
With more than 127,000 deaths from Covid-19, the United Kingdom is the country most affected by the pandemic in Europe. Thanks in particular to vaccination, the health situation has improved markedly, with less than 3,000 daily infections with Covid-19 and around twenty deaths from this disease per day, which has led the government to launch a gradual deconfinement. The reopening of the nightclubs is scheduled for June 21.
Other countries have embarked on life-size tests. In Spain, a test concert brought together 5,000 people on March 27 in Barcelona, where participants danced without physical distancing, wearing FFPA masks and after being subjected to an antigen test before the concert. A month after this concert by the Love of Lesbian group, the organizers announced that there was ” no sign “ contagion that occurred during the event.
In France, nightclubs have no prospect of reopening soon, the government having announced that they would still remain closed at the end of the four stages of deconfinement planned until the end of June. In Paris, an Indochina test concert intended to verify the conditions for a possible reopening of theaters is scheduled for May 29 at the AccorHotels Arena.