Men’s tournament in summer 2021
The European Football Championship is said to have caused 840,000 corona cases
01/18/2023, 4:20 p.m
In the middle of the corona pandemic, European football will hold the men’s European Championship in summer 2021 – in twelve countries. A study has now examined how many Covid 19 infections can be attributed to the tournament.
According to a study, the 2021 European Football Championship was responsible for around 840,000 corona cases in twelve of the participating countries. However, the reason for the infections was not only the sometimes full stadiums in the eleven host countries, but above all meetings at public viewings or in bars and pubs.
In England, which reached the final of the tournament, the number of infections is said to have risen particularly sharply. The R value tripled there on national team match days. In Scotland, the value has even increased fourfold. Epidemiological data such as the course of the daily number of cases or the sex of the infected persons were evaluated for the study.
The rhythm of the games could also have contributed to the contagion. “After four days, many people – if they were infected in the previous game – are still asymptomatic, but already infectious,” said physicist Viola Priesemann, who participated in the study, according to “tagesschau.de”.
In Germany there was no drastic increase in corona numbers in connection with the EM. The seven-day incidence dropped to 7.1 during the period of the tournament through mid-July. According to Priesemann, this does not mean “that no chains of infection were triggered at the European Championships in Germany”. Rapid tests that are available and used across the board have also contributed to the Federal Republic getting through this phase well.
The pan-European football championship was postponed in 2020 due to the corona pandemic. After significant progress was made in fighting the pandemic through the use of rapid tests and vaccines, the 2021 tournament was rescheduled. The “Tagesschau” also reminds that at that time the rate of first vaccinations in Germany was less than 50 percent and the rate of second vaccinations was less than 25 percent.