Business Secretary: We can't 'guarantee' England vs Denmark won't cause a Covid outbreak

7 July 2021, 08:21

'We cannot guarantee the England game won't cause Covid outbreak'

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng this morning told LBC he cannot guarantee there will not be an outbreak of coronavirus cases linked to football fans watching England's Euro 2020 semi-final against Denmark at Wembley.

Mr Kwarteng said: "I think we can manage this risk but to say there is no risk, if you have thousands of people in one place... there's always risk in life.

"I think we're managing the risk. I'm confident there won't be a big outbreak but we can't guarantee that now."

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Millions of fans are preparing to cheer England to victory in tonight's semi-final, knowing a win will take the men's team to within touching distance of a trophy in a major tournament for the first time in more than half a century.

Supporters are expected to get through nearly 10 million pints in pubs and beer gardens on Wednesday. 60,000 fans will be inside Wembley for the semi-final showdown with Denmark later.

The Duke of Cambridge, who is president of the Football Association, will be among those inside the ground to watch the match, which will be the first time the men's team has made it to the semi-final of a European Championship since an ill-fated penalty shoot-out defeat to Germany at Euro 96.

England manager Gareth Southgate, who saw his penalty saved in the sudden death shootout 25 years ago, will be hoping his team can go at least one better and make it to the final, also at Wembley, on Sunday evening.

Tonight's semi-final kicks off at 8pm, with tens of millions expected to watch the match.

Victory will see them in their first major final since the 1966 World Cup.