According to data from the EU Health Agency, the number of corona cases in connection with the European Football Championship has risen sharply. Fans from seven participating countries have been affected so far. It is unclear where the infections occurred.
The European health authority ECDC has counted more than 2500 corona infections in connection with the European Football Championship. In the third tournament week of the European Championship, there was a significant increase compared to the week before, confirmed the EU agency at the request of the German press agency. Infection cases in seven countries could be linked to the EM, said the responsible director Vicky Lefevre. Scotland was by far the most affected with 1991 cases.
The Scottish team played their European Championship group games in Glasgow and London’s Wembley Stadium. In the UK, the more contagious Delta variant of the virus is spreading rapidly. 436 cases were most recently registered in Finland, especially after Finland’s footballers played in St. Petersburg and fans apparently brought the virus with them from Russia. Some cases have also been reported from Denmark, France, Sweden, Croatia and the Netherlands. In Germany, no corona infections have been found directly in connection with EM.
Two experts are checking the incidence of infections relating to EM
It is not certain where the affected fans were infected. This could have happened both in stadiums and in fan zones, during travel and at private meetings in the vicinity of the games. The development is “not unexpected” in view of the corona situation, said Lefevre. Large events with crowds are still fraught with risks. She also pointed out that the Delta variant had not yet been “on the scene” when the plans for the European Championship games with tens of thousands of spectators had been tied down.
For the ECDC, at least two experts check the infection rate around the European Football Championship every day. Investigations began a week before the tournament started and ended a week after the final on that Sunday.
