- Analysis shows that the fixture caused deaths due to Covid-19
- The game was one of the last matched before games were halted
- Mental Health and Psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Liverpool’s Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid led to ‘41 deaths’, according to an analysis of National Health Services (NHS) data.
NHS discovered that the Champions League last-16 fixture at Anfield led to an additional 41 deaths.
Liverpool hosted the Spanish side on March 11 in front of a packed Anfield stadium that had 52,000 fans – 3000 fans from Spain.
The clash that saw Diego Simeone’s side knock out the holders in front of a packed stadium was among the last games played before games were suspended due to the coronavirus.
At the time the match went ahead, many businesses, schools, restaurants and some matches had already moved to behind-closed-doors in Spain.
Last month, Mayor of Madrid Jose Luis Martinez-Almedia admitted that it was a ‘mistake’ that the game was allowed to go on.
It didn’t make any sense that 3,000 Atletico fans could travel to Anfield at that time. It was a mistake. Looking back with hindsight, of course, but I think even at that time there should have been more caution.
The UK government defended the decision to allow major events such as the game at Anfield and Cheltenham Festival to go ahead despite the fact 10 days later, social distancing measures were introduced.
Cheltenham Festival attracted more than 250,000 people in the second week in March and research by Edge Health, reported in the Sunday Times, found that Cheltenham ‘led to 37 additional coronavirus-related’ deaths.
Spain has confirmed 253,000 infections with 28,706 deaths while in the United Kingdom, there have been 257,000 positive test results and 36,675 deaths to date.
