Liverpool mayor calls for inquiry on why Merseyside club and Atletico Madrid were allowed to play in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 at Anfield Road. The match, which took place on March 11, had 54.000 spectators (3.000 from Spain) watching the action from the stands, despite the advice from the World Health Organization to cancel it. Since then, there has been a massive increase of coronavirus infections in the area. Steve Rotheram, Liverpool mayor, told BBC: "If people have contracted coronavirus as a direct result of a sporting event that we believe shouldn't have taken place, well that is scandalous," "That's put not just those people in danger, but those frontline staff in the NHS and others in their own families that may have contracted it."We've seen an increase in the infection curve, and that's resulted in 1,200 people [in Liverpool] contracting Covid-19."That needs to be investigated to find out whether some of those infections are due directly to the Atletico fans. There were coronavirus hot cities, and Madrid was one of those."They weren't allowed to congregate in their own country, but 3,000 of those fans came over to ours, and potentially may well have spread coronavirus."So it does need looking at, and it does need the government to take some responsibility for not locking down sooner."According to recent data, 246 people have died with COVID-19 in Liverpool’s NHS hospitals.
