England fans have been urged to watch tomorrow’s Euro 2020 quarterfinal outdoors amid fears that large football crowds could cause a fresh spike in Covid-19 cases.
Yvonne Doyle, Public Health England’s (PHE) medical director, gave the yellow card to indoor screenings of the match as she called on Three Lions fans to “follow the guidelines in place”.
“Many of us will be joining friends and family to watch England in the Euros on Saturday night,” she said.
“But please follow the guidelines in place to reduce the risk and enjoy the match safely: watching the game outside will always be safer than gathering indoors.”
PHE’s latest weekly surveillance report released yesterday found that Covid cases are rising in all regions of England, with rates nearing those seen at the peak of the second wave of the virus but deaths remaining low.
The UK recorded a further 26,068 Covid infections on Wednesday — the highest daily figure since 29 January 29, sending the seven day-tally up 70 per cent on the week before,
The recent surge in cases means the English football team will now have to rely on British expats living in Europe for support at Rome’s Stadio Olympic tomorrow night.
It comes after England fans travelling to Italy to watch the match were banned from attending the event as concerns about Britain’s high prevalence of the Delta variant continue to rumble across Europe.
A statement issued by the Italian embassy in London yesterday said that “anybody who has been in the UK in the previous 14 days, irrespective of their nationality or residency will not be admitted to the stadium, even if they have a ticket”.
The announcement forced UK’s Football Association (FA) to hand back the 2,560 tickets reserved for England to Uefa, who agreed to sell them to British fans who do not live in the UK.
Britons living in Italy and other countries including Malta, France and Germany have singe managed to snap up the tickets.
Italy is currently on the UK’s amber travel list, meaning all people returning to Britain must quarantine for up to 10 days. Meanwhile, all UK arrivals in Italy are required to isolate for five days.
La Repubblica reported that Italian officials are currently working to “intensify” motorway restrictions at the country’s borders to stop England fans from sneaking in to watch tomorrow’s Euros match.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2TkCYtD
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