Music lovers in Barcelona will have a chance to attend an old-fashioned, non-distanced concert as soon as this month, thanks to massive rapid testing. Taking place at the popular Sala Apolo and organized by Primavera Sound–in collaboration with Badalona’s Germans Trias y Pujol Hospital and la Fundación Lucha Contra el Sida y las Enfermedades Infecciosas–the event will host 1,000 people who will be tested for coronavirus before entering the venue with rapid antigen detection tests. Half of them will also be tested with the more rigorous polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. The artist to perform will be announced at a later date.
Social distancing policies won’t be enforced, but the use of face masks and hand sanitizing gel will be mandatory inside the venue. Eight days after the concert, the attendees will be tested once again with both rapid and PCR tests in order to determine if transmission occurred at the event.
The news was shared by Lluís Torrents, head of the Associació de Sales de Concerts de Catalunya, last Sunday, as a new effort to reactivate the live music industry, once of the most impacted sectors during the current COVID-19 pandemic. If this pilot concert yields positive results, it can potentially bring a sense of trust to the public and promoters, and help bring music back to the stages.
This initiative could also turn venues into massive testing spots, and it translates into an opportunity for the Germans Trias y Pujol Hopsital researchers to draw conclusions about the difference in sensitivity between rapid and PCR tests.