Football has a way of bringing people together. However, maybe this year’s European Championships did that a little too well, as the number of coronavirus cases linked with the tournament has shot up over the past few weeks.
Data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has revealed that, so far, more than 2.500 coronavirus cases can be linked to the European Championships. In fact, the head of the public health unit at the ECDC, Vicky Lefevre, said that infections in seven different countries could be linked with the football tournament. The data also shows that the third week of the tournament saw a significant uptick in cases, compared with the previous week.
Scotland has been most affected by the outbreaks, with 1.991 new infections being detected in connection with the championships. In Finland, 436 cases have been recently recorded, a number that grew significantly after Finland’s national football team played in Russia. It is suspected that fans brought the virus back with them. Further associated cases have been found in Denmark, Sweden, France, the Netherlands and Croatia. However, in Germany, no cases of coronavirus were found to be in direct connection with the Euros.
While the data shows the number of infections, it is impossible to determine where these new infections came from. Spectators could have been infected anywhere, from inside the stadiums, to airports, to private gatherings held before and after the games.
Lefevre said that the spike in infections in connection with the Euros was “not unexpected.” Not only do large crowds still pose an infection risk, but the Delta variant of coronavirus is also becoming more prevalent across Europe. Lefevre also pointed to the fact that the Delta variant was not widespread across Europe and the UK when plans for the tournament were finalised.
The ECDC has been investigating the relationship between the Euros and infection rates every day since a week before the tournament started. The investigation will continue until a week after the final on Sunday.