Any “COVID passport” scheme to prove people in England are safe to attend mass-audience events would be “time-limited,” reports BBC.
COVID status certification
A “COVID status certification” scheme is being developed to enable concerts and sporting matches to take place.
It would record whether people had been vaccinated, recently tested negative, or had natural immunity, having already had a bout of coronavirus. The government is also trialing other ways of holding mass events safely.
Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston said the trials would be a “learning experience” and no decisions had been made about processes or vaccine certification.
Improved ventilation and testing before and after events are among the other approaches being tested for mass gatherings and indoor events, including sports matches and nightclubs.
Huddleston said the PM would receive a report on all the trial events at the end of May.
COVID vaccination status
The pilot events – which include the FA Cup final, the World Snooker Championship, cinema screenings, and nightclub events – will take place up until mid-May.
The NHS is said to be working on a system to allow people to demonstrate their Covid vaccination status through an app or paper certificate.
For people who have not yet been vaccinated, it could record any recent negative tests, or whether they have tested positive in the last six months and are likely to have natural immunity.
The FA Cup final will require certification but some of the venues stressed they would not be involved in trialing the so-called Covid passports proposed by the government.
Testing for audience
Paul Blair, co-owner of the Hot Water Comedy Club in Liverpool which is due to host the very first event, said his club faced the “worst negative press we’ve ever had” when it was wrongly reported certification would be used at his event.
He told the BBC that one person sent a message saying they hoped the owners would “catch Covid and die,” while several messages seemingly organized by a conspiracy theorist group accused the club of practicing “medical apartheid.”
Instead of using Covid passports, his event will involve testing audience members before and after the show as part of a scientific experiment to ensure that it will be safe to reopen without social distancing after 21 June.
“The sole reason we are doing this is to help prove it’s safe for live venues to open,” he said, adding that it would apply to people regardless of their vaccine status.
Back to pre-COVID restrictions
Another series of events to be piloted in Liverpool will be three open-air cinema nights put on by Luna Cinema, with around 1,000 people expected each time.
George Wood, the cinema’s founder, told the BBC they would aim to run the screenings “in a way that will be allowing people not to think about social distancing.”
“For just those few hours when they come to the event, it’ll be back to pre-Covid restriction levels, where people will be able to sit next to each other and enjoy a film on a big screen,” he said.
He added that detail on how testing will work at the events will come out in the next few days.
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Source: BBC
