Positive Covid test strips found dumped outside Reading Festival site after it was attended by 90K
Positive Covid test strips are found dumped outside Reading Festival site after it was attended by 90,000 fans amid fears over surge in infections linked to music events
Pictures show positive lateral flow tests strewn on ground outside Reading site Fans had to be double jabbed or produce a negative lateral flow test on entrySome social media reports claimed people at festival recently tested positiveIt follows 4,700 Covid cases being linked to Boardmasters festival in Newquay
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Positive Covid tests have been found dumped outside Reading Festival site after it was attended by 90,000 fans over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Pictures show lateral flow tests with two lines – indicating a positive result – strewn on the ground where attendees began packing up to go home on Monday.
Festival-goers had to be double vaccinated or able to produce a negative lateral flow test on entry, and were then ordered to take a lateral flow test every 72 hours.
Many were young adults so had likely not received both jabs, but it is not yet known whether the positive tests were dumped by festival-goers or members of the public.
Some reports on social media claimed people who had attended the festival had recently tested positive for Covid, including others who said they had also seen positive test results lying on the floor at the Leeds festival site.
The discovery comes amid fears over a surge in infections connected with music events, after 4,700 cases were linked to Boardmasters festival in Newquay, Cornwall.
Pictures show lateral flow tests with two lines – indicating a positive result – strewn on the ground where attendees began packing up to go home on Monday
Festival-goers had to be double vaccinated or able to produce a negative lateral flow test on entry, and were then ordered to take a lateral flow test every 72 hours
Images shared on social media suggested that attendees had dumped positive lateral flow tests in the campsites and portable toilets in the festival grounds.
Videos on social networking site TikTok reportedly showed positive lateral flow tests dumped around the site.
More have been found on public roads leading away from the site.
Some were discovered alongside syringes on Caversham Road, where many festival-goers walk from the campsite to get to Reading town centre.
Festival-goer Ben told Berkshire Live: ‘I’m not too fussed about getting it, but I don’t think my family would be too pleased about having to isolate.
‘I think it’s bad about the positive tests lying around but it’s to be expected really. If I tested positive I wouldn’t go home as we’ve spent so much money to get here.’
It follows hundreds of tents lining at least six fields from corner to corner on Monday after the three-day event came to a close on Sunday.
In one patch seven tents appear to be laid out in a circle indicating a group had camped together and all decided to leave their gear.
Alongside sister event Leeds Festival, it was the first large-scale gig since Covid restrictions on mass gatherings eased earlier this year
Festival-goers finished off the weekend watching Post Malone on the main stage.
But it was left to the staff the next morning to tidy up the mess, with security having to grab bin bags to work as the ‘litter-picking staff were nowhere to be found’.
The rite-of-passage festival for students celebrating their final exams attracted tens of thousands this year with headliners including Stormzy and Liam Gallagher.
The Association of Independent Festivals estimates 250,000 tents are left behind at festivals across the UK, the majority of which end up in landfill.
Alongside sister event Leeds Festival, it was the first large-scale gig since Covid restrictions on mass gatherings eased earlier this year.
MailOnline has reached out to Festival Republic for comment.
