Following Festival Republic’s 40,000-capacity Latitude Festival in Suffolk on 22-25 July, around 20 people have reportedly tested positive for Covid-19 while the county’s director of public health Stuart Keeble has said 300-400 cases among festival-goers would not be above the expected level.

The festival was part of the Government’s Events Research Programme (ERP) and was therefore able to go ahead at full capacity, with mitigation measures in place.

According to the BBC’s Local Democracy Reporting Service, Keeble told the Suffolk County Council’s local outbreak engagement board that local data showed that the festival had resulted in 14 to 20 cases but that it would be down to the ERP team to establish the national impact.

He said, “You have got 40,000 people there, so if you look at the background rates of Covid in the population, which is about 1.4%, we would expect to see about 300 or 400 cases in that population over time, so it is quite possible the cases we are potentially hearing about are ones we would have seen in the population anyway.”

The four-day festival at Henham Park was headlined by acts included Wolf Alice, The Chemical Brothers, Bastille and Bombay Bicycle Club.

The data from the latest round of ERP events, which included the 40,000-capacity Tramlines Festival in Sheffield, is yet to be released.