The Euro
2020 final between England and Italy on July 11 has been declared a “superspreader”
event as a cluster of COVID-19 cases from that day were linked to London’s Wembley Stadium,
official data released on Friday confirmed.

“Euros
final was superspreader event,” British daily the Times said.

Also Read | UK study finds COVID vaccines still effective against Delta variant

A 67,000-strong
crowd attended the final, among which there were at least 2,295 confirmed cases,
with another 3,404 people likely to have contracted the infection at the
stadium, Reuters quoted Public Health England as saying.

“Euro 2020
was a unique occasion and it is unlikely we would see a similar impact on
COVID-19 cases from future events,” a statement from Public Health England’s deputy
medical director Jenifer Smith read.

“However,
the data does show how easily the virus can spread when there is close contact
and this should be a warning to us all as we try and return to a cautious
normality once again.”

The showpiece
event was the first final of a major international tournament that England was
hosting since winning the 1966 World Cup on home soil.

The final
was also rife with violence and mismanagement as ticketless spectators stormed
the Wembley Stadium, causing mayhem in and around England’s national stadium in
the wake of the hosts’ penalty-shootout loss to Italy.

Dozens were
arrested in the aftermath, with police also launching hate crime investigations
into racist abuse hurled at England players on social media.

Meanwhile,
other months-long trial events showed significantly fewer positive cases that
were at par or lower than the national averages.

Over
350,000 people attended the British Formula One Grand Prix at Silverstone over
three days, from which the NHS Test and Trace recorded 585 cases. From those,
343 were likely to been infected earlier, with the rest likely to have acquired
the virus at the event.

Similarly,
881 cases were recorded from over 300,000 people who attended the Wimbledon tennis
tournament.  

“We’ve
shown that we can reintroduce mass sports and cultural events safely but it is
important that people remain cautious when mixing in very crowded settings,”
Culture Minister Oliver Dowden said.

England
lifted nearly all lockdown measure on July 19, which the country’s media has dubbed
as “Independence Day”.

The 2021-22
season of the Premier League has also seen the reintroduction of fans without any
caps.