2 000 Covid cases linked to Euros

LONDON. — Nearly 2 000 Covid-19 cases in Scotland have been linked to people watching Euro 2a020 football matches.

Public Health Scotland said two thirds of the 19991 cases were people who travelled to London for Scotland’s game with England on 18 June.

This included 397 fans who were inside Wembley for the match.

A relatively small number of cases reported attending the Fanzone in Glasgow, or Scotland’s two home matches at Hampden.

Scotland was only allocated 2,600 tickets for the match at Wembley because of Covid restrictions.

But tens of thousands of fans are believed to have travelled to London despite warnings not to do so unless they had a ticket. Many gathered together in large groups in central London ahead of the game, with those in Leicester Square being moved on by police shortly after half-time.

The country’s national clinical director, Prof Jason Leitch said he was disappointed that 2,000 of the 32,000 cases recorded in Scotland since 11 July had been linked to Euro 2020 events.

But he said it was impossible to know whether people had contracted the virus while watching a match or somewhere else, or how many people they may have subsequently infected. Prof Leitch added: “Some of them may have taken it to London with them, some of them may have got it when they came home.

“But the increasing number of males, the increasing number of young people and the increasing numbers with tagged Euro events, particularly indoor Euro events, and buses and travel would suggest that there is certainly a connection between some of that travel and the Euros”.