UK Enables dancing without distancing at nightclub test event

UK Enables dancing without distancing at nightclub test event

Several million music fans have been the first people in Britain in more than a year to lawfully dance, drink and listen to music in a nightclub

LONDON -- Several thousand music fans on Friday became the first people in Britain in over a year to legally dancing, drink and listen to music in a nightclub, as part of a test to find out whether social distancing measures could be eased without triggering new coronavirus outbreaks.

The afternoon-admission gig in a warehouse in Liverpool, northwest England, is one of a series of pilot events sponsored by the U.K. authorities and closely monitored by public health officials. Even the 3,000 attendees, all local residents, were to be analyzed before and after the event, while researchers will study air quality and motion in the place.

Once inside, clubbers could dance to DJs such as Lewis Boardman and Jayda G. with no limitations on mixing with other people.

"Once you go over the threshold, the entire point of today is to return to pre-COVID conditions, which naturally is no social distancing, no masks. You can interact with people you do not understand," he told the BBC. He said the reaction of ticket-buyers to that news had been"disbelief" as well as excitement.

"We're very excited," Leah Lawless, 18, said as she waited with her buddies to get in to the warehouse. She said the last year had been"hard. It's been dull, a bit sad, gloomy rather than the very best."

A second clubbing event will probably be held in the same place on Saturday, and 5,000 fans will attend a concert headlined by the band Blossoms in Liverpool's Sefton Park on Sunday.

Britain has recorded over 127,000 coronavirus deaths, Europe's highest toll. But a fast-moving vaccination campaign has contributed almost two-thirds of adults at least one shooter, and the government is gradually raising the restrictions on economic and social life that were in place over much of their previous 14 months.

Most stores and services are open, but indoor drinking, dining and entertainment will not restart before May 17 at the first. Some social distancing rules will be set up until at least June 21.

Adventures everywhere in Europe are encouraging. Organizers of a Barcelona concert attended by 4,500 mask-wearing fans who'd been screened for the virus say the occasion produced no significant outbreaks.

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