Six60 Play To 20,000 People In New Zealand

Six60 recently played a gig in front of a crowd of approximately 20,000 music fans in Waitangi, New Zealand, marking one of the biggest single gigs since the pandemic began.

New Zealand has managed to tackle and contain the virus so effectively that its alert level sits at one, with only a few imported cases or isolated local cases occurring.

The concert was the first of Six60’s six-date nationwide summer tour, and reports say that concert-goers came into close contact with one another and didn’t need to wear masks.

The news appears in stark contrast with the situation in the UK and beyond. Currently, the UK is battling the containment of a new variant of the virus with a third lockdown.

More than 100,000 people have died with Covid-19 in the UK, after 1,631 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were recorded in the daily figures. The live events industry has been devastated by the pandemic, and it is currently unknown when live events and large gatherings of people will be able to take place again.

Hawke's Bay medical officer of health, Dr Nick Jones, said that the Bluetooth function on smartphones is vital for big events:

"It's great that everyone is scanning but of course that just tells you that you were there at the concert. Only a very small proportion of the people at the concert would have really met that definition of being a close contact so it just helps us to focus in on the people who are really most at risk and for them to get that message early."

Dr Jones says that doesn't mean people should stop scanning the QR codes:

"The QR code is great as well. If the vendors, say the food stall vendors at a concert, had QR codes and you scanned that, that would be really helpful because that would limit the numbers [of people to be traced in the event of a case]."