Spanish study finds indoor concerts can be safe, with the right precautions

The research, published on Thursday in The Lancet and funded by the Spanish concert company Primavera Sound Group, found that indoor concerts provide no additional risk of contractingCOVID-19 provided organizers implement the use of rapid testing before the event, along with mask wearing and proper ventilation. For the study, the researchers invited around 1,000 people to a five-hour concert with four musical acts in Barcelona on Dec. 12, a time when case numbers in Spain were low, indoor gatherings in the country were limited to six people, and vaccines were not yet available. Each of the participants were tested for COVID-19 using lateral flow tests, which provides results in about 30 minutes. Once tested, half of the participants were told to go home and serve as a control, while the others were allowed into the venue for the concert.