Covid-19: Primavera Sound's concert trial finds no infections among attendees

The results of a recent trial "testing the hypothesis that a live concert performed under safe conditions would not be associated with an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infections" have been published – with none of the 463 who attended the concert testing positive for the virus.

The PRIMA-CoV study, run by Primavera Sound, the Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation and the University Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol in Badalona (Barcelona), involved 1,047 participants, who were screened and had a negative antigen result before the concert. Of the group, 463 entered into the concert in Barcelona's Sala Apolo on December 12, and 496 remained in the control group, with no access to the venue.

At the venue entrance, a certified N95 cloth mask was given to every participant, and mask wearing was mandatory during the entire event. However, alcoholic beverages were allowed – with participants "asked to remove the face mask only when drinking." No physical distancing was required at the concert, and singing and dancing were also permitted.  Air flow and room ventilation "were optimised in the two indoor rooms and air exchange was monitored along the entire event."

The concert, which lasted five hours, included four performances – two DJ sets and two live music acts with groups.

Eight days after the concert, all 1,047 participants had a second SAR-CoV-2 rt-PCR test, to identify possible infections.

"In the final intention-to-treat analysis (ITT-exposed), none of the 463 participants in the experimental group was infected with SARS-CoV-2 whilst in the control branch (without access to the concert) 2 of 496 participants were infected," the report states.

"Therefore, attending a live music concert staged with a series of security measures that included a negative antigen test for SARS-CoV-2 done on the same day, was not associated with an increase in COVID-19 infections."

After the event, the attendees filled out a questionnaire, and said that "they enjoyed the performance, and that they had behaved perfectly normally without feeling under the scrutiny of security controls."

Read the full results here.