Liverpool's Champions League game against Atletico Madrid should not have been played last month, according to the director of public health in the city.
Matthew Ashton is in charge of co-ordinating the response to the coronavirus pandemic in Liverpool, having assumed that role with the city council on Wednesday.
Ashton was not critical of scientists or medical officers that were informing UK Government decisions at the time, but he told the Guardian: “It was not the right decision to stage the match. 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 Atletico 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.”
Many Irish supporters of Liverpool went to Anfield for the second leg of the last 16 tie on Wednesday, March 11th. At the time, Madrid was suffering a spread of the virus and 3000 away fans travelled to be among a capacity of 54,000.
There are currently 262 cases of COVID-19 in Liverpool.
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