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| - Six people out of 5,000 who attended an indoor trial concert last month in Barcelona reported testing positive for Covid-19 afterwards, organisers said on Tuesday. Ahead of the show, everyone underwent mass screening and antigen tests. There were no mass tests afterwards, but 15 days later only six people had reported testing positive for Covid-19. "There is no sign that suggests transmission took place during the event," Josep Maria Llibre, an infectious diseases specialist from the Germans Trias i Pujol hospital told a news conference exactly a month after the March 27 concert. Organised by the hospital and a group of Spanish music promoters, the concert in the Palau de Sant Jordi was billed as Europe's biggest indoor rock concert since the start of the pandemic. It featured one of Spain's most popular bands, indie rockers Love of Lesbian. Participants wore FPP2 surgical masks at the concert but there was no assigned seating or mandatory social distancing. Capacity at bathrooms was limited to avoid crowding. Out of the six people who reported testing positive after, "We are certain that in four of these six cases, transmission did not take place during the concert," Llibre said. Boris Revollo, the virologist involved in the design of the health protocols at the concert, said he could not "categorically" rule out that the other two people were infected during the concert but there was a "very high probability" that they had not. "The measures which we implemented were very safe," he added. The Palau can welcome 17,000 people, but the 5,000 ticket holders were not allowed into its stands and instead were restricted to the dance floor. The deputy mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, said the results of the study show "it is possible to relax" virus health restrictions and "restart cultural activities". Trial concert or festival events have been held in several European countries, including in Germany and the Netherlands, as part of efforts to allow crowds to form again to see live music. According to a study published by Spain's Music Federation, the European music industry lost 76 percent of its earnings in 2020. alg-mig/ds/yad/hmw
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