Fans return to Wembley for coronavirus events trial

Thousands of fans are to return to Wembley Stadium today for the first time in over a year as part of a coronavirus trial.

4,000 supporters – a fraction of Wembley’s 90,000 capacity, will be in the stands watching the FA Cup semi-final between Leicester City and Southampton at 18:30.

The game forms part of the government’s Events Research Programme, which will test the idea of a vaccine passport to enter certain events.

This idea has been met with widespread opposition so far, with many fearing that it may create a two-tier society.

There are also plans to allow attendees to abandon face masks and social distancing measures as we come out of lockdown.

Today’s game will be followed by further trials at the World Snooker Championship and two music events in Liverpool.

Speaking to the BBC, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said:

“The plan is to look at factors like one-way systems, ventilation within a stadium and how you interact in terms of getting to and from the venue.

“We will be testing them before and after to look at spread and look how they behave in the stadium.

“We’re not just chucking everyone into the stadiums, it is being done in a very controlled way and the purpose is to get the rules set can so it can be as safe as possible from the 21 June.”

Those who attend trial events will have to have produced a negative coronavirus test result in the past 36 hours.

They will also have to take a laboratory PCR test five days afterwards.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the results would “inform our approach to ensuring future big events can take place safely”.

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