Merkel, Macron urge vigilance over virus risk at Euro 2020

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday urged caution in allowing fans to crowd Euro 2020 stadiums while the coronavirus pandemic still posts major risks.

“We can’t act as if corona were over” despite dropping infection rates in much of Europe, Merkel told reporters when asked about plans for the upcoming matches.

“You can see based on the example of Lisbon how quickly things can change,” referring to a recent resurgence of Covid-19 cases in the Portuguese capital.

She noted that fully vaccinated people were still in the minority in most European countries “which is why caution is still necessary”.

Merkel said that applied in particular to “big events”.

“In Munich for example you had 14,000 fans (for the Germany-France match on Tuesday)” under strict hygiene rules, she said.

“But when I see fully packed stadiums in other European countries, I am a little sceptical whether that is the right thing in the current situation.”

Hungarian and Portuguese fans returned to a packed football stadium Tuesday, the Puskas Arena in Budapest — the only Euro 2020 tournament venue not to limit fan capacity as a Covid-19 health precaution.

Macron, Merkel’s first foreign guest at her chancellery since pandemic shutdown measures were imposed, said he was confident that organisers of the tournament were “very vigilant”.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday said his priority was keeping the “country safe from Covid”, as a source confirmed to AFP that UEFA was keeping the option open of moving the Euro 2020 semi-finals and final from Wembley to Budapest.

The French president said in light of the reports that “we’ll have to keep an eye on things” for the teams and fans, particularly in view of the rapid spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus in Britain.