London’s O2 Arena details new coronavirus safety measures ahead of BRITs pilot event

The O2 in London has revealed details of new measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, ahead of this year’s BRIT Awards ceremony.

The event is scheduled to take place next Tuesday (May 11), and will see a crowd of 4,000 admitted without social distancing restrictions. It’s the largest indoor pilot event to be hosted as part of the governments Events Research Programme (ERP).

Ahead of the event AEG Global Partnerships, which owns The O2, has struck a deal with Unilever’s Lifebuoy who will become the venue’s ‘Official Hand Sanitiser Partner’. The 3-year deal will see 256 hand sanitising stations displayed across the venue.

Another partnership has been made with Rentokil Initial as ‘Official Specialist Hygiene Services Partner’. This will see the installation of a cutting edge air purification technology known as ‘VIRUSKILL’, which the venue has said is proven to kill 99.9999% of viruses, including the coronavirus.

Additionally, the arena will utilise a new ventilation system to maintain a flow of fresh air, and installed 75 additional sensors to measure CO2 level changes throughout events.

Pete Tong performing to a full capacity O2 CREDIT: Luke Dyson

As part of the pilot event, all attendees at the BRITs will have to take an NHS Lateral Flow Test in the 36 hours before the event, a PCR test on the day and another five days afterwards, which will be specially analysed to determine whether the awards have any impact on transmission rates.

A section of the O2’s car par is also being converted into a walk-up and drive-in asymptomatic testing site until at least the end of June.

“This event is such a big moment for us, and I’m enormously proud of the team at The O2 who have been working round the clock to ensure we have a best-in-class event as always, and that our customer experience is everything our fans have been waiting over 14 months to experience again,” said VP & General Manager of The O2, Steve Sayer.

“Our new measures and partnerships will ensure our guests feel confident at our venue as we make history as the largest indoor pilot event. This and all of the events that make up the Events Research Programme create a really important step for the industry’s recovery. Ultimately we hope that it will contribute to all venues across the country being able to reopen with full capacity crowds from next month.”

This year’s BRIT Awards is set to feature a number of big-name performers. Pink and Rag ‘N’ Bone Man will perform their duet ‘Anywhere Away From Here’, and Olivia Rodrigo will mark her debut UK performance

Coldplay will open the ceremony, and The Weeknd will perform remotely, with Arlo Parks, Dua Lipa, Griff and Headie One also due to perform. You can find a full list of nominees here.

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