Health passport app hope for live music’s comeback
Aglimmer of hope awaits for music fans who have been starved of live entertainment for the best part of a year and are desperate to see their favourite bands in the flesh.
A digital health passport initiative will be trialled at select UK venues in a move towards reopening them safely.
Start-up company You Check has designed a government approved app in collaboration with the Music Venue Trust in a bid to get live music back on stage without risking transmission of coronavirus.
The app, originally designed for tickets and communications between show audiences and fans, has been adapted to work in conjunction with existing Track and Trace technology.
Every ticket holder will be required to take a COVID-19 test prior to arriving at the venue and the result will be stored on the app, together with the attendee’s name, ticket and age.
You Check COO Fred Krefting said “We’re working, not exclusively, with Innova in terms of testing.
“Technology that looks for a viral load high enough to be contagious with 97 per cent plus accuracy.
“For the honeymoon phase after the test, it’s the shorter the better, which means you’re good to go to a show for 48 hours.”
Trials of the software are currently planned for March, at The 100 Club in London and the Exchange in Bristol. The events will have a 25 per cent capacity and attendees will be tested twice for COVID-19.
If the trials are successful, it’s hoped that the technology could be used at music venues across the UK, with the hopes of slowly building up capacity.
Mark Davyd, CEO at Music Venue Trust, said: “You Check’s identity first solution has a lot of potential to help venues and promoters manage risk.
“It has a fast and thorough authentication process which enables health information to be stored against portable digital identity and
Music Venue Trust is pleased to be working with You Check to explore how this technology might form part of a comprehensive process which enables us to reopen every venue safely and revive live.
Though music venues are not open under the UK’s current lockdown rules, it’s hoped that this technology may speed up reopening once restrictions begin to ease.
The Music Venue Trust has identified more than
400 venues that are at risk of permanent closure because of the loss of business caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Through the charity’s work, together with the support of music fans and local authorities, 13 venues under imminent threat of closure were recently taken off the Music Venue Trust’s critical red list.