Contributions of the EURO 2020 football championship events to a third wave of SARS-CoV-2 in Scotland, 11 June to 7 July 2021
Eurosurveillance·
- DOI
- 10.2807/1560-7917.es.2021.26.31.2100707
- PMID
- 34355691
- PMCID
- PMC8343549
- OpenAlex
- W3189474250
- Study type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC)
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The findings highlight potential transmission risks associated with large public gatherings and informal social events, with the authors noting that targeted guidance on celebrating safely in closed spaces is key.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
This study aimed to estimate the contributions of the European football championship (EURO 2020) to a third wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections in Scotland using national contact tracing data.
Study design
Public Health Scotland conducted an outbreak investigation using Scottish national contact tracing data linked to the EURO 2020 championship period.
Population and setting
The study examined SARS-CoV-2 cases in Scotland during 11 June to 7 July 2021, focusing on cases who self-reported attending EURO 2020 events.
Main findings
Among 63,874 SARS-CoV-2 cases identified during the study period, 2,632 (4%) self-reported attending a EURO 2020 event. Of these cases, 90% were male and 73% were aged 20-39 years. Most cases attended unofficial gatherings and had a higher average number of contacts compared to the general population.
Public-health relevance
The findings highlight potential transmission risks associated with large public gatherings and informal social events, with the authors noting that targeted guidance on celebrating safely in closed spaces is key.
Important limitations
No explicit limitations were stated in the supplied abstract. This summary is limited to the supplied single-article abstract and metadata; full interpretation requires access to the original paper.
GIDS interpretation
This article represents a peer-reviewed outbreak investigation published in Eurosurveillance on 5 August 2021. The study leveraged Scottish national surveillance data during the EURO 2020 championship period. Context regarding the study's relevance to any current surveillance activities is beyond the scope of this summary.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 9 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.