Covid: Lancashire Euro 2020 screenings to go ahead

Hundreds of football fans are expected to attend events at Preston's Flag Market

Euro 2020 fan zone match screenings in an area where Covid rates are among the highest in England are to go ahead, despite concerns.

Hundreds of fans are expected to attend events at Preston's Flag Market on 13 and 18 June, as England's group games begin.

On Tuesday, Lancashire was declared a Covid "enhanced response area" with new guidance announced.

The screenings will be unaffected, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

It comes after Lancashire's public health director Dr Sakthi Karunanithi warned the events could become "super-spreader events".

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Parts of Lancashire have been identified as places where the so-called Indian variant, now named the Delta variant by the World Health Organization, is spreading the fastest, along with Greater Manchester.

The LDRS understands the event's organisers from Preston's Business Improvement District met Dr Karunanithi and Preston City Council officials on Tuesday but no changes are planned as a result of the new guidance.

Preston BID manager Mark Whittle said: "On their advice, we will remind people that taking regular lateral flow tests is a good way to help stop the spread."

Tickets for the events have been sold to people across Lancashire, Yorkshire and Brighton, with fans to be seated at tables for England's group games against Croatia and Scotland.

The government is expected to announce on Monday whether England's next lockdown easing will go ahead as planned on 21 June.

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