Taylor Swift certainly does not leave her fans indifferent. A week after the US singer performed in Madrid as part of her Eras Tour, the 130,000 people who saw her at the two concerts held in the Spanish capital still remember an unforgettable night. What many don't know is that they left the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium with more than just souvenirs and outrageously-priced merchandising. Many also picked up an unexpected souvenir: a dose of Covid-19.
Over the past few days, thousands of fans have commented on social media that they fell ill after attending the concerts on May 29th and 30th. A situation that is not surprising, considering the large crowd packed into the stadium, all of them singing their favourite tunes at the top of their lungs. And despite the fact that the severity of the pandemic situation is now much reduced, the virus itself persists. In recent weeks, the incidence of this illness in Spain has shown an upward trend, amid springtime weather that causes symptoms to often become confused with those of colds and allergies. There are all kinds of cases, but the truth is that thousands of fans were affected. Some even had an antigen test to confirm that it was Covid.
Translation: "Covid, infected by Taylor Swift, I'll sell my antigen test for 5000 euros!" - @chinesatellite
"I've had Covid since the Eras tour and acting like it was nothing, thinking it was congestion." - @frxncidc
"Taylor Swift is so cute - she included the new Covid variant as a surprise in the Eras Tour Madrid🕊️🙏♥️" - @martina___n
"I went to the Madrid concert (05/29) when I was perfectly fine and returned to Valencia the next day. During the weekend, I noticed that I felt different because I was feeling very uncomfortable, and felt dizzy. Yesterday I was coughing non-stop. I took the test today and it came back positive. 🥴" - @orianaznar
To give an idea, the leading Spanish fan Twitter/X account dedicated to Taylor Swift held a poll asking followers if they had come down sick after going to one of the singer's concerts in Madrid. A full 35% of people who took part - the equivalent of 3,780 - responded positively. In the comments, descriptions of their conditions. "Cough, sore throat, body discomfort and I can hardly speak," says one. "I went on Wednesday and Thursday. On Saturday my neck hurt, and I spent the night from Sunday to Monday with a fever of 39C, one of the worst nights of my life," reveals another. "Covid and one of the worst blows," says a third.
"Did you go to the #MadridTStheErasTour and did you take Covid, a virus or a cold home with you as a souvenir? Here's a survey:"- @taylorswiftes_
Same story, three weeks earlier in Paris
The reality is that this situation is not surprising. As well as the large crowds that are inevitable at any concert, we must add the domestic and international travel of many fans. The fact that Taylor Swift skipped Catalonia on her tour meant that many Catalan fans made the journey to the Spanish capital to enjoy the singer, and there are thousands of people from all over the world who have been forced to come to Europe to see it live. For this reason, the increase in the incidence of Covid since the concert has not only occurred in Madrid. On June 9th and 10th, Paris hosted two concerts by Taylor Swift - three weeks before the Madrid shows - and a similar situation was experienced there, in which thousands of French fans reported feeling unwell, with symptoms compatible with Covid.