UEFA Euro 2020: lessons from the first multi-city international mass gathering during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Mass gatherings (MG) present a number of challenges to public health authorities and governments across the world with sporting events, tournaments, music festivals, religious gatherings and all other MG having historically posed a risk to the spread and amplification of a range of infectious diseases. Transmission of gastrointestinal, respiratory, waterborne and sexually transmitted infectious diseases pose a particular risk: all have been linked to MG events [-]. Infection risk often depends on the nature of the mass gathering, and on the profile and behaviour of its participants. The interaction between environmental, psychological, biological and social factors plays a vital part. The risk of outbreaks particularly as a result of respiratory transmission remains high at MG, with the majority of outbreaks over the last two decades resulting from a variety of respiratory and vaccine preventable pathogens [-]. Concerns about the spread of infectious diseases at MG are often focussed on crowding, lack of sanitation and the mixing of population groups from different places. Sporting events, which have in recent decades become more complex and international in nature, pose a challenge to the control of communicable disease transmission []. Despite this, large scale outbreaks at sporting events have been rare in recent decades, particularly since the rise of more robust public health planning, prevention, risk assessment and improved health infrastructures in host countries [].

Keywords: COVID-19; outbreaks.

Fig. 1.

Stadium capacity restrictions during UEFA Euro 2020, 11 June – 11 July 2021. * Stadium capacity limits were unable to be enforced due to mass security incident.

Fig. 2.

Travel restrictions of international fans during Euro 2020 tournament, 11 June – 11 July 2021.