Christopher BarrettThe organisers of the 42,000-capacity EXIT Festival on 8-10 July in Novi Sad, Serbia, said a scientific study found the full-capacity festival did not cause mass infection of the Covid-19 virus.
Prior to entry the attendees were split into two groups – the vaccinated and those who just had a negative test result. The festivalgoers were then tested seven days after the festival and not one person tested positive for Covid-19.
The scientific study was carried out by the Health Centre Novi Sad and the association Project Lab, under the leadership of the head of the research team, epidemiologist and assistant professor Marija Milić MD.
The team found that there was no mass spread of the virus at Exit and that 10 days after the start of the festival there was no significant deterioration of the epidemiological situation in Novi Sad. It said the daily statistics of the virus in the period from 8 -19 July in the city did not differ from the averages in the rest of the country.
EXIT Festival founder Dušan Kovačević said, “We have proven that we have been treated unfairly in the past, and that there are no longer any arguments and justifications that can allow gatherings at sporting events, in cafes or shopping malls, and not at concerts and festivals.”
Separately, it has been reported that there were more than 1,000 coronavirus infections after 20,000 people attended the Verknipt festival in the Netherlands on 3-4 July, despite a negative test result being a condition of entry to the event.
Utrecht health board’s Lennart van Trigt said it could not confirm that the 1,000 people were infected at the festival itself, and that they could have been infected on the way to the event or having an after-party: “So they’re all linked to the festival but we can’t 100% say they were infected at the festival.”