One thing I must say has surprised me over the past few months is how few cases of Covid-19 have emerged out of nightclubs and festivals. We’ve been told since the pandemic started that the most risky conditions are ones where everyone is in close proximity and moving about frantically.

Yet stories of large clusters being traced back to mass gatherings remain quite rare. Vaccinations are playing their part – so are the requirement from many venues for a negative test or proof of being double jabbed. I also get the feeling a lot of people are being cautious after such events being at risk of being cancelled again.

So the news that New York health officials are investigating after at least 16 cases have been traced back to the Electric Zoo festival, held between September 3rd and 5th in the city, is inevitably getting a lot of attention. More worrying is the claim eight people were there who actually had the virus. So what happened?

According to the city’s health department, they were “likely exposed prior to attending the concert”. So it’s not looking like they decided to be stupid and deliberately go whilst infected – thank goodness. Everyone who went has been advised to get tested – although it’s worth pointing out that 16 cases in an event which hosted 100,000 over three days isn’t exactly the end of the world.

How many were ultimately affected is something we’ll almost certainly never know…