Nearly 2,000 Covid cases in Scotland linked to gathering football fans

The Tartan Army in London for the EURO 2020 match between Scotland and England.

Nearly 2,000 Covid cases in Scotland have been linked to people watching Euro 2020 football matches.

Public Health Scotland said two thirds of the 1,991 cases were people who travelled to London for Scotland’s game with England on June 18, including 397 fans who were inside Wembley for the match.

About 90% of the cases were male, with three quarters of the total – 1,470 cases – being aged between 20 and 39.

People attending the Fanzone in Glasgow accounted for a small number of cases, as did Scotland’s two home matches at Hampden.

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Due to Covid restrictions, Scotland were only allocated 2,600 tickets for the match at Wembley.

However, tens of thousands of Scotland fans are believed to have made the trip to London for the game, despite warnings not to do so unless they had a ticket.

Thousands of Scotland fans gathered in central London in huge groups, but were dispersed by police shortly after half-time.

Scotland Fans celebrate in Trafalgar Square before the Euro 2020 match between England and Scotland.

Public Health Scotland said it had tagged positive Covid cases if they attended either a Euro 2020 organised event, such as a match at Hampden or Wembley Stadium or the Fanzone at Glasgow Green.

People who tested positive after attending an informal gathering, such as a pub or a house party to watch a match, were also tagged.

The report said that 1,294 of the 1,991 total cases had reported travelling to London, including 397 who were actually at the match.

Only 55 of those who tested positive reported being at the Fanzone, while 38 had been at Scotland’s match with Croatia at Hampden, and 37 at the team’s opening fixture against the Czech Republic.

It is not known whether those who tested positive contracted the virus while they were watching a match, or elsewhere.

Meanwhile, senior officials are holding talks with Uefa to allow around 2,000 foreign fans and 2,000 VIPs to attend the July 6 and 7 semi-finals and July 11 final on of the competition at London’s Wembley Stadium – without quarantine – sparking outrage among travel industry leaders.