It was wrong to play against Atlético, says Liverpool's publ

Liverpool’s Champions League tie at Anfield with Atlético Madrid should not have been played, the city council’s director of public health has said, amid concern at the rising number of confirmed coronavirus cases there. Matthew Ashton, who began in the role on Wednesday, is responsible for coordinating the response to the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic while having to work from home, as confirmed cases in Liverpool rose to w88 line.


“It was not the right decision to stage the match,” Ashton told the Guardian, although he said he was not critical of the scientists or medical officers whose advice informed the government’s approach of allowing sporting events to continue. “People don’t make bad decisions on purpose – perhaps the seriousness of the situation wasn’t being understood across government at that time.



“Although we will never know, the Atlético Madrid game could have been one of the cultural events and gatherings that influenced the rise in Liverpool. It is definitely one to be included on the list for learning and for a future inquiry, so that organisations can learn and not make similar mistakes w88 casino .”

On 11 March, the day of the last-16 second-leg match, which was won 3-2 by Atlético and attended by 54,000 people, including 3,000 away supporters, Liverpool had just six confirmed cases of coronavirus. Madrid had by then become a centre for the spread of the virus. La Liga decided that day that all matches must be played behind closed doors and Spain’s government had ordered schools closed the day before. In Britain the government was still pursuing its policy of allowing life to continue with no restrictions other than advising people who believed they had Covid-19 symptoms to self-isolate.

Dr David Halpern, chief executive of the governmental behavioural insights team, first publicly mentioned the term “herd immunity” that day, suggesting that the majority of the population could be allowed to contract Covid‑19 while people most vulnerable to the virus might be isolated. All major events such as football matches, described as “mass gatherings”, were still scheduled to go ahead. The government changed the policy and began to announce social distancing restrictions the following Monday, 16 March.

Joel Rookwood, a senior lecturer in sport business management at the University of Central Lancashire, and a Liverpool supporter, has been suffering severely from the symptoms of Covid-19 since 14 March, although he has not been in hospital so has not been tested for the virus. He was at the Atlético match, and believes he contracted the virus at the game .

Writing about his experience in his local newspaper, the Lancashire Evening Post, Rookwood, 39, said he had feared he would be vulnerable if he contracted the virus because he has twice been hospitalised with pneumonia. For days since the match he has suffered from “acute shortness of breath and violent episodes of rigor (shaking). I haven’t eaten solid food or been fully horizontal for 10 days. Precious periods of sleep are counted in minutes, not hours.” He did call 111 last weekend when his condition deteriorated, but was told he was 280th in the queue for an ambulance, and he was not considered critical enough for that to be accelerated https://www.w88thais.com/football-betting-online/ .