Just 17 out of 58,000 people caught Covid at non-socially distanced mass events pilots in England, Government data shows.
One of the experts involved in the scheme said there had been 'outbreaks of joy' among those who got to enjoy a slice of freedom at the events, but no outbreaks of the virus.
It has raised hopes that festivals, nightclubs and sporting matches can reopen at full capacity after July 19 – more than 16 months after the initial lockdown last March.
Nine events were piloted in total, including the FA Cup final in front of 21,000 fans at Wembley, a live audience of 4,000 at the Brit awards, a nightclub in Liverpool which hosted 3,000, as well as three 10km outdoor runs for 6,000 athletes and spectators.
The trial was designed to see if Covid outbreaks could be avoided at mass events when the country was originally scheduled to unlock on June 21.
Leicester supporters watched their side win the FA Cup in May in front of a crowd of 21,000 fans as part of nine trial events
There was a live audience of 4,000 at the Brit awards in the same month at the O2 Arena in London
People have non-socially distanced fun at a rave in Liverpool as part of the programme. Data published by local public health officials in Liverpool showed just 0.07 per cent of the more than 13,000 attendees across three events tested positive
More than 200 snooker fans at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre were required to wear masks but did not need to socially distance as part of another test event
The Events Research Programme (ERP), commissioned by the Prime Minister in February, found 28 cases of Covid at the nine events in total.
Of these, 11 were identified as having had the disease before attending the event. A further 17 were thought to have caught Covid at the event, or closely before or after.
The researchers behind the programme said a dozen of the cases thought to have picked the virus up at the events were known to each other.
They said there was a good chance these people caught the disease prior to or following the events and spread it amongst each other.
Despite just 0.02 per cent of attendees testing positive, Nicholas Hytner and David Ross, chief advisers for the ERP, said the
