More than 5,000 Covid cases are now potentially linked to Cornwall's Boardmasters
The coronavirus case rate in the Duchy has reached 771 per 100,000 people
It has been revealed that over 5,000 coronavirus cases now have a potential link to Cornwall's Boardmasters.
Public Health England revealed the figure during a bank holiday media briefing, calling it a 'significant number'.
A spokesperson said that is how many people were in the proximity of the events during that period, who have since tested positive for Covid.
Officials faced questions on whether events like the festival in Newquay should be cancelled.
"The event was able to go ahead because of where we are in the roadmap, and also the local authority was working tirelessly in the weeks planning of that event to make sure mitigations were put in place, and obviously in the knowledge it would be attracting an age cohort where you won't have seen people who've had two doses.
"The local authority, working with the event organisers and the community around that event, proceeded with that event and there are some important protective factors about allowing young people to come together and to celebrate. Certainly from a mental health perspective there are some real benefits in providing that space to do so."
In a recent statement, a spokesperson for Boardmasters said: "Since the government allowed live events to return, we have worked closely with Cornwall Council's public health team, putting in place risk management measures above and beyond national guidelines.
"These included use of the NHS Covid Pass as a condition of entry, which was introduced during the Government Events Research Programme earlier this year and is being recommended as best-practice at other large events.
"The system detected over 450 people who would otherwise have been at risk of passing on the virus and as a result did not attend our Watergate Bay site or left the festival early.
"We are grateful to them and everyone else who took the extra steps this year.
"No event is able to eliminate risk entirely and the latest Test & Trace data includes reported infections among the 76,000 people who visited the festival or related activities at Fistral Beach, in Newquay and the wider area during the week of Boardmasters.
"We will continue to work with our public health partners to understand the extent to which attendance at the festival has contributed to the figures.
"We look forward to sharing our experience with our local authority partners and other large events so we can all continue to provide much needed economic benefit to our communities and entertainment to our loyal audiences".
It comes as the case rate in the Duchy reaches 771 per 100,000 people.
Regional Deputy Director of Public Health England, Professor Mike Wade, was also asked if the Duchy should be on a travel list.
He said: "Any conversations about future lockdowns and travel lists are ministerial decisions, they are not our regional decisions to make. I think the point the government has made repeatedly over the more recent weeks is that this is now about social responsibility, it's about individual behaviour.
"The key message here is that it's behaviour, it's human behaviour, that results in infection. So this is about us making sure we do everything we can to prevent transmission, and just remembering that Covid-19 has not gone away, we are still living with it."
A number of events are set to take place over the bank holiday weekend, including the Reading and Leeds festival.
Festival-goers will be able to grab a Covid-19 jab as easily as a beer or a burger
Music fans can get vaccinated in between sets at pop-up clinics across the two sites this bank holiday weekend, but health officials said people under the influence of alcohol or drugs will not get a dose.