Rotterdam 2021

48 out of 29,875 Eurovision 2021 attendees contracted COVID-19

The figures are far lower than the average across the Netherlands during this period

Across the nine shows of last month’s Eurovision Song Contest, a total of 48 of the 29,875 visitors were infected with coronavirus, according to a document released by Fieldlab Events. This equates to roughly 0.16% of all attendees.

As reported by nu.nl, these numbers equate to an average of 1.6 per thousand, or over five per show. By comparison, the figures in the overall Dutch population during this period was around 4.9 per thousand. This suggests that the Fieldlab trial was a success and the measures put in place by organisers largely reduced the possibility of transmission.

Note: These figures only include the visitors of the contest and not the crew, volunteers, press and delegation members. Those statistics are expected to be published by the organisers later this month.

Eurovision 2021’s measures

After a lot of hard work and dedication from the organisers, the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest went ahead. To comply with measures, delegations spent most of their time in hotel quarantine outside of rehearsals in order to minimise transmission risks.

In April, it was announced that the contest would act as a FieldLab event to test how large events can be ran in the midst of the pandemic without causing an outbreak. This meant that each of the shows had an audience of 3,500 people. Everyone seeking to enter Ahoy had to provide a negative Covid test every 48 hours. Other face-to-face aspects of the contest, such as the Eurovision Village, were virtualised.

Despite the overall success of the measures, one of the 39 acts – Jóhann from Iceland’s Gagnamagnið – tested positive for COVID-19, meaning that rehearsal footage was used in replacement of a live performance. In the week of the contest, 2019 winner Duncan Laurence also tested positive, and a backup tape was used for the Grand Final interval.

Thankfully, they still managed to crown a winner in the form of Italy’s Måneskin.

Do you count this as a success? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter@escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify and YouTube to see our reactions to the news in the run up to the 2022 national final season!

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