Barcelona venues pilot “100% COVID-free system” for indoor nightlife

Venues in Barcelona and parts of the Costa Brava area are set to run pilot tests on a system aiming to prove that opening indoor nightlife under strict health and safety requirements can be done safely.

The formula was devised with the help of biosafety specialists SeiXsein Europe. It will be possible to use anywhere in the world, and does not require social distancing or mask-wearing.

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The system will comprise of prior testing, contact track and tracing, the use of an essential and non-transferable QR code using the Liberty Pass APP to gain entry to venues, and the installation of devices that aim to eliminate 100% of the COVID-19 virus and all its mutations from the air and surfaces of indoor spaces.

The COVID elimination devices are approved by the ENAC (Spanish National Accreditation Entity) and are already in use in countries in Asia and health wards such as Intensive Care Units.

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Joaquim Boadas, General Secretary of Nightife International (the INA) and Spain Nightlife said: “Nightlife and restaurant venues can be perfectly adapted to the current crisis and are capable of functioning without putting clients’ and workers’ risk at stake. Many venues have been closed for a year now and many are in a critical state and at risk of disappearing permanently, an industry that is so important for tourism around the world and in dire need of reactivating the global economy. For this reason, we ask for governments to sit down with our industry and work on the reopening of the industry and the recovery of tourism and the economy by conducting pilot testing in venues and allowing for the industry to prove it can coexist with the pandemic”.

On behalf of Carmen Alvarez, the CEO of SieXsein Europe said: “At SieXsein we have been working since the start of the pandemic to find the formula that is best to reactivate and reopen the industries that have been most hit by the pandemic. I have been very fond of the nightlife and restaurant industry and consider that it has been left completely abandoned during this crisis and it’s a personal mission for me to reach the new normal as soon as possible and reactivate the restaurant and nightlife economy and tourism worldwide. Reaching this agreement with the nightlife industry will allow for the best solutions in biotechnology to be applied all around the world and recuperate the economy and general well being of people.”

A recent rapid testing event held in Barcelona was hailed a success, producing no COVID infections afterwards.

Carmen Alvarez (SieXein) and Joaquim Boadas (INA) signing the agreement for the pilot in Barcelona, Spain

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Features Editor, follow him on Twitter

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