Over 1,000 Latitude festival attendees test positive for Covid-19

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More than 1,000 attendees of this year’s Latitude Festival have tested positive for COVID-19.

Government figures have revealed that of the 37,000 that attended the festival’s return to Suffolk’s Henman Park across July 21-24, 1,050 people later tested positive for the virus in the days following the event. Findings suggest that 432 of those who tested positive were likely infectious at the time.

The first event of its kind to take place in the wake of the government relaxing all restrictions on gatherings in England, this year’s festival was held in accordance with the Events Research Programme (ERP), which meant all attendees had to produce either a negative lateral flow test or provide proof of double vaccination.

Stuart Keeble, the director of Suffolk Public Health, said, “As Suffolk reopens once again and people attend busy events or attractions, it’s important that people continue to be considerate of others and wear a mask or keep their distance where appropriate.”

“Covid is still circulating in the county and whilst the majority of us are double jabbed, we cannot be sure that those people around us won’t become very unwell if they catch it.”

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden added: “We’ve shown that we can reintroduce mass sports and cultural events safely but it is important that people remain cautious when mixing in very crowded settings.

Latitude is the latest festival to be linked to a spate of new COVID-19 cases in Europe, following 5,000 cases of the virus being linked to Boardmasters Festival in Newquay, and an event in Utrecht being tied to 1,000 new cases.