FEATURE:
Fields of Gold
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The Full Capacity Plan: Faster Contact Tracing v. Social Distancing
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MANY of us are…
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straining on the leash and are keen to flock to festivals! This year’s calendar has been suspended, and we are all looking ahead to 2021. Although one cannot imagine too many issues with next year’s gigs and festivals, you never know what might happen between now and then regarding the spread of Covid-19 and how it will impact the industry. At the moment, there are suggestions socially-distanced gigs could be the norm: allowing venues to open but with reduced capacity; people standing apart and not coming into contact with one another. Whilst venues everywhere are struggling and are desperate to open their doors, I do wonder whether many gig-goers will go for the more intimate and less atmospheric social-distancing approach. A vaccine is a long way off but, as talk of trace and testing/track and trace is being bandied around (though the timescale of when it will happen seems to shift every day), maybe that is a solution? This NME article concerns Reading & Leeds boss, Melvin Benn, and how trace and testing might help festivals get back on their feet:
“Reading & Leeds Festival boss Melvin Benn has suggested a proposal that is advocating an increase in coronavirus testing in order to enable the full re-opening of music venues, pubs and sporting events and serve as an alternative to social distancing following the pandemic.
Benn, who is the Managing Director of Festival Republic, has called for the increase in testing as the UK’s leisure industries “cannot operate with the measures that are currently in place”.
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‘The Full Capacity Plan’ is instead proposing an incentive-based scheme that will advocate the widespread public use of the NHS COVID-19 App, which aims to automate the process of contact tracing and spark an increase in population testing.
The Plan is seeking to “connect access to the entertainment and hospitality sector to a mandatory COVID-19 test” which will “create a personal incentive for the population to get frequently tested and use the NHS trace app”.
“This known customer principle provides a safe alternative to social distancing for the entertainment and hospitality sector for ‘known customers’ who have tested free from COVID-19,” the plan states.
Festival Republic hope to work in partnership with the government in order to get people using the app and getting regularly tested for coronavirus in order to access music venues, pubs, theatres and sporting events. If successful, the plan could be in place by November to commence an “industry restart with [an] embedded new process and rapid scaling”.
Speaking to NME last month about the possibility of enforcing social distancing at future music festivals, Isle Of Wight Festival boss and music agent John Giddings said the idea was “ludicrous”.
“Once you give someone a couple of drinks, they’ll start having the best time with all these people. With social distancing you can only fit 15 people on a double decker bus, how is that economically viable? It’s the same for festivals,” Giddings said”.
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Right now, trace and testing might not be viable and rolled out until September but, if successful, that could give festivals and venues some peace of mind. I am not sure how it would work but, in theory, if people with Smartphones had an app that showed they were not infected, venues would be able to ensure people inside were safe. Many festivals have been put off until 2021; but will many have the confidence to return if there is no system in place to guarantee that the venue/festival is clear of Covid-19?! Maybe it would be easier for venues to operate with a track and trace system in place – and they will want to open this year -, but festivals like Reading & Leeds and Glastonbury won’t want there to be any restrictions when they come back next year. I think being socially-distanced will be hard in any venue or festival. There is that natural inclination to be close to other people, and to experience music in a physical and community sense. In the short-term, distancing might be the only way venues can remain viable, but I think it won’t be realistic next year when festivals start to come back. Let’s hope that some form of tracking and tracing can be finalised by the autumn, as it will give the music industry – and everyone for that matter – a real sense of confidence. It will take a long time to return to how things were last year but, right now, there is this hunger and desire for live music. Let’s hope the Government can get a track and trace system in place soon as it will give music fans…
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SOME much-needed good news!