The hosting of a half marathon event in Liverpool in March could form part of an investigation into the spread of coronavirus in the city.
Liverpool Council has commissioned a probe into the controversial Champions League match with Atletico Madrid at Anfield on March 11 - when 3,000 Spanish fans travelled from covid-hit Madrid to Liverpool.
There are major fears that this event could have contributed to a surge in cases and deaths from the virus in Liverpool and the council's public health team is now working with the city's universities to try and find out if there is a link between the two.
While many have asked questions about that match, others have pointed to another mass gathering event that happened in the city around the same time.
Thousands gathered in the city centre for the Liverpool Landmarks half-marathon on Sunday March 15 - an event that was not organised by the council but was promoted by the local authority.
The ECHO covered the race at the time, reporting that some runners were using hand sanitiser during.
At the time of the event, the UK government guidance was that major events like this should still go ahead, with deputy Chief Medical Officer Jenny Harries saying they would not have a big impact on the transmission of the virus.
Liberal Party councillor for Tuebrook and Stoneycroft, Cllr Joe Dunne, has now asked the council to look into the event as well.
Speaking about the council's Madrid investigation, he said: "I welcome this investigation and agree the government should not have allowed the game to take place.
"This investigation will be vital and necessary to understand what impact it has had on coronavirus cases in Liverpool.
"Notwithstanding this, for an accurate investigation, I believe it will be equally imperitive to investigate the Liverpool Half Marathon that took place on March 15 2020, in which over 6,000 people attended."
The city council has now told the ECHO that the half marathon event could form part of its investigation - but pointed out that the situation with coronavirus in Madrid was a key consideration behind the decision to investigate the Champions League match in particular.
A city council spokesperson said: “When the Liverpool Half Marathon took place in March, the event organiser was following national guidance in place at the time.
“Liverpool City Council is at the very early stages of working with the University of Liverpool and John Moores University, to try and scope out a study which will give us an understanding of the impact of the Athletico Madrid match at Anfield on COVID-19 cases. Depending on the size and scale of this, it is possible the half marathon event may be considered as part of this project.
“However it’s worth noting that, the marathon albeit a social gathering, was made up of mainly local and regional people. The Madrid game was against the backdrop of Spanish fans with high levels of Covid-19 not being allowed to travel within Spain, but allowed to travel to Liverpool.
“Liverpool City Council had no powers to halt the game or stop people travelling to Liverpool.”
The race organisers, BTR Liverpool, echoed the council's comments that it was following national guidance in holding the event at the time.
