Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the transmissibility of the omicron variant of covid-19 at large outdoor events.

No specific assessment has been made. The transmissibility of COVID-19 at large outdoor events was previously assessed through the Government’s Events Research Programme (ERP). The ERP considered transmission risk across a range of social, cultural and sporting venues and the findings are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/events-research-programme-phase-ii-and-iii-findings

The ERP studies took place earlier in the year at a time when the Delta variant was emerging. The studies included large outdoor venues, including at Wembley. The ERP studies reported that COVID-19 transmission at such events were complex and contextual and was associated with various environmental and behavioural risk factors.