England’s Euros success could be fuelling Covid surge, scientists fear

England’s victory in the Euro 2020 football championship semi-finals on Wednesday evening spurred manic celebrations by 66,000 fans at Wembley Stadium and millions across the country.

But scientists have warned that the team’s exploits could be fuelling a surge in coronavirus cases that risks rising further if England beat Italy in Sunday’s final.

England’s comeback victory against Denmark ended decades of waiting for an appearance in a major final by the men’s national team. Many fans were not alive to witness the World Cup triumph against West Germany in 1966. Even Denmark, a less populous nation with a far weaker domestic league, won the Euros in 1992.

“The fans were incredible all night,” said England manager Gareth Southgate. “I’ve not heard the new Wembley like that — ever.”

In London, the Metropolitan Police said on Twitter that officers arrested 20 people for various offences, including common assault after the “fantastic win by England”, with “large pockets of groups” gathering to mark the victory.

But scientists are concerned that ebullient fans are contributing to the increase in coronavirus cases ahead of July 19, when the UK government plans to lift almost all restrictions put in place to limit the spread of the virus.

A group of scientists and health experts warned in a letter to The Lancet, a medical journal, that the government’s plans to open up are a “dangerous and unethical experiment”.

Separate research published on Thursday showed that the reproduction rate of Covid-19 in England jumped to almost 1.9 in early July, which means that every infected person transmits the virus to a further 1.9 other people. Imperial College London’s React-1 study, which looked at almost 50,000 swab tests taken between June 24 and July 5, found that men were 30 per cent more at risk.

“It could be that watching football is resulting in men having more social activity than usual,” said Steven Riley, professor of infectious disease dynamics at Imperial.

The Euros were increasing the probability that people were meeting indoors more frequently, he said.

A peak of 27.6m viewers watched England beat Denmark on ITV and online via ITV Hub.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive at trade body UKHospitality, said she welcomed the news that the government “has given dispensation for pubs and bars to extend opening, so fans can watch — and hopefully celebrate — the [final] in safe, supervised environments”.

However, she added that the continuing Covid restrictions would curtail any “boost in sales from the football”.

The government and the London mayor Sadiq Khan are considering options for “safe celebrations” in the event that England beat Italy.

However, the Italians pose a tough test in the final. England must overcome a team that is undefeated in 33 matches and fresh from the euphoria of beating Spain in a penalty shootout in the tournament’s other semi-final and, in the previous round, a Belgium team that were among the favourites to win the Euros.

“They are, as always, difficult to score goals against, and without doubt deserve to be in the final, having beaten two top teams to get there in Belgium and Spain,” said Southgate. “So it’s the biggest possible test we can have.”