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Covid-19: Crowds to be trialled at events in England
18 Apr 202118 April 2021
Last updated at 08:44
Getty Images
The FA Cup semi final and final at Wembley Stadium in London will form part of the pilots
The government has announced it will begin trialling crowds at a series of events in England, as part of plans to ease the country out of lockdown.
The FA Cup semi-final on Sunday between Leicester City and Southampton at London s Wembley Stadium will host a crowd of 4,000.
It will be the largest crowd to have watched a football match in a major British stadium for more than 12 months.
If the test event is a success it s hoped crowds like this will be back again soon. Pic: PA THE Government has announced a new pilot event without social distancing which brings the hope of normal life one step closer.
Music lovers will be attending the concert in Sefton Park, Liverpool, on May 2 where the audience will not be required to be socially distanced. However, attendees will have to provide proof of a coronavirus negative test before gaining entry, ministers have confirmed. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said he hoped the Events Research Programme (ERP) test event, meant the wait for gigs and the intimacy of being in a packed crowd to return would not be “too much longer”.
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Cinema and big event organisers targeted by extreme anti-vax activists
By Christopher Giles
image copyrightGetty Images
image captionSunday s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium is one of a number of mass event trials being held across the country
Anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine activists have used online groups to circulate the personal details of people helping to run cinema and other large-scale event trials. It s prompted some people to send abusive messages. We must be approaching about 300 emails accusing us of things like being a part of a medical apartheid.
George Wood is managing director of The Luna Cinema, which runs open-air film events. He agreed to participate in the government s pilot scheme to restart large-scale gatherings - but he didn t expect to receive abuse for doing so.