On 26th November the government published the findings of the Events Research Programme (ERP), which studied over 2 million delegates across 31 events, in order to investigate COVID-19 transmission at events. The programme has concluded that venues and event organisers should consider their ventilation strategy, space utilisation, and movement of people, as part of risk assessments for each event and venue.
The report concluded that: “While ventilation can reduce the risk of long-range airborne transmission, it does not eliminate the risks posed by other modes of transmission amongst close contacts. Appropriate mitigations are best adopted as part of a hierarchy of controls such as an enhanced ventilation strategy, requiring the wearing of face coverings and reducing crowding. High resolution fixed monitoring of air quality and people movement can be used to determine ventilation effectiveness and identify areas of higher risk to prioritise their improvement. For complex or large venues or high-occupancy events, specific mitigations are best developed in consultation with ventilation and crowd movement experts.”