As the number of people who claim they contracted coronavirus at the Cheltenham festival continues to rise, the organisers of the UK's most famous race meeting have again defended the decision to stage the event despite the evident spread of the pandemic in Britain.
This week, British aristocrat Andrew Parker-Bowles confirmed he contracted the virus during one of two visits to Cheltenham this year. Comedian Lee Mack says he got the disease at the festival as does Charlie Austin of Southampton.
As the number of coronavirus deaths in the UK tragically increases day by day, the staging of the Cheltenham festival feels crazier and crazier.
Who remembers two weeks ago? pic.twitter.com/u61yFwm4se
— Rob Chapman (@rcscribbler) March 27, 2020
Faced with another wave of criticism, The Jockey Club felt compelled to release the following statement to the UK media yesterday:
“The Festival concluded three weeks ago and went ahead under the clear and ongoing guidance from the government and its science experts throughout, like other popular sports events at Twickenham, Murrayfield, 10 Premier League matches and the UEFA Champions League at Anfield that same week.
“We promoted the latest public health advice and introduced a range of additional hygiene measures at the event, including hundreds of hand sanitiser dispensers and extra wash basins.”
Sue Smith,Cheltenham's chief medical officer is quoted in the UK media today said: “the standards of hand wash and hygiene at the festival were of the highest level and all measures were taken in accordance with daily updates from Public Health England.”
Of course, it was not only British people who attended the 2020 Cheltenham Festival. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Irish people traveled over to the Cotswolds for the event, and likely brought the disease back to Ireland with them.
“If Cheltenham was being held in Ireland I don’t think it would be on, quite frankly," Simon Coveney said on RTÉ this week
