VE Day celebrations could have led to a sudden spike in a city's coronavirus cases, a medical expert said today.
And it is feared the same could happen at the end of Ramadan this weekend following an increase in fresh infections in Bradford.
Prof John Wright, head of the Bradford Institute for Health Research at Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI), said there were 30 new cases six days after the VE Day anniversary on May 8.
Up until that point, the number of cases at the hospital had been reducing, with only three reported on Monday May 11.
But three days later, on Thursday May 14, the number of cases shot up to 30 - a figure Prof Wright suspects has come from VE parties that ended in "fist fights or embraces".
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Writing in a diary for the BBC, the professor said: "It's just one figure, and in normal times we might discount it as random variation.
"However these are times of alertness, and every flicker of the Covid dashboard needle triggers nervous anticipation of a possible spike.
"There is a delay between infection and symptoms, usually about five-to-seven days.
"So these cases would have been incubating since the week before - and possibly since the communal gatherings on VE Day, six days earlier."
VE Day - the 75th anniversary of the Allied victory in Europe in World War Two - would have been marked in a huge way at any other time.
But in this current climate, communities did what they could within lockdown limitations.
Although staff at the A&E department at BRI were acutely aware of a lack of care in social distancing as they dealt with many assault cases involving alcohol that night.
A&E consultant David Greenhorn said: "It's not possible to punch someone from 2m away."
Thankfully, the number of cases reduced to 15 on the Friday.
Now, the worry revolves around the celebration of the end of Ramadan, with Eid-al-fitr, the breaking of the fast, being celebrated this bank holiday weekend by roughly a third of Bradford's population.
Mosques would normally fill with thankful worshippers and the city's streets and parks would be filled with sunshine and festivities.
But this year, under the Covid threat the mosques will remain closed and gatherings ruled out.
Prof Wright says the message for Bradford remains the same: "Stay at home, Eid at home, save lives."
