May/June 2021

EVENTS
THE 28 April to 2 May represented a
momentous five days for Liverpool, with the
execution of three Covid-19 test events – a
business gathering, nightclub event and
festival. We talk to Professor Iain Buchan,
leader of the University of Liverpool’s
Institute of Population Health (now officially
known as ‘The Party Professor’), to find out
about the government’s Events Research
Programme, and how he and teams across
the UK are working together to find out if
live, large-scale events can resume safely
and securely post-Covid.
Can you tell us a bit about the Events
Research Programme?
The Events Research Programme has been a
fantastic partnership of a nationwide group
of scientists. A lot of people, concentrated
at the University of Liverpool, are working
in partnership with the local authority,
public health teams, event teams, and
event organisers to get data on how to build
a safety net around events that involves
testing.
There’s also a social responsibility
element to that safety shield. People have
to declare if they have any symptoms, and
not go on the day if they do. For research
purposes, we’ve done another two tests.
We’ve asked people to take some home tests
that are not part of the entry criterion – a
PCR test on the event day, and five days
later. We’re looking for any signs of virus, but
we’re not expecting to see much as rates are
so low at the moment (around 1 in 1,000).
If you apply testing on top of that with
lateral flow, at least 8 out of 10 likely
infectious individuals will be detected. The
chance of encountering someone in one of
these venues has been exceptionally low,
maybe 1 in 5,000. It was a mixture of a public
health decision – informed by good science –
that now is the time to build that safety net.
We’re looking at the early warning system
that needs to be in place so that we have all
the data should we need to ramp up later
on. If rates were to rise a little bit in July,
let’s say, do we have the very quick flow
of information between testing, ticketing
and event organisers? Do you know who
everyone is? Can you trace them quickly?
It’s a bit like putting a contact tracing system
in place even though you don’t need it.
Everyone’s coming to an event, but can the
local public health team handle that amount
of information in a short period of time?
That’s what we’ve really tested – that safety
net, and whether the audience understands
how important it is that they are part of that
safety net.
This includes the choices they make, such
as minimising their unnecessary contacts
with other people in the days leading up to
the event. And afterwards, we can all play
our part in securing these events.
Why was Liverpool selected for these
pilot events?
Liverpool was selected because it’s been a
global pioneer city in testing for people that
is voluntary, and irrespective of whether
or not they have symptoms. The people of
Liverpool embraced the testing scheme with
a larger amount of asymptomatic testing
in place. That gives us more intelligence
about what the background patterns of
the virus are. If you want to understand
what events would do to that, you need a
lot of background information. Liverpool’s
probably the best place in the world to do
that.
How did you work with the other
organisations in Liverpool?
This is a partnership that’s been growing
over the past year, a remarkable partnership
of science and society. I’d say it’s one of the
most rewarding partnerships of my working
life. The events teams and the public health
teams at Liverpool City Council have worked
with us in the university as one family.
A lot of hard work has been done in a very
short period of time, and that’s based on
trust and capability. This was prepared in the
community testing program from November.
Liverpool already had a plan in December
to open events when it was safe to do so
when the vaccination scheme was advanced
and rates were low. But because of the tight
partnership between the university, the City
Council and the population, there was the
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