Brass Bands England has offered further advice and information to its member bands — including those competing at the Regional Championship events in Torquay and Durham this weekend.

Statement

In a statement on its website they say:

"Today (Saturday 14th March) we have received via a medical professional the following update from a senior doctor at Public Health England, a body initially consulted by Brass Bands England over the Coronavirus:

Whilst the Government is leaving decisions over the Coronavirus to individuals, there is a responsibility and liability on organisers.

Brass bands are recognised as a high risk of cross contamination, noting the specific actions taken in other countries.

Torbay has a cluster outbreak.

The events at Torquay and Durham will each bring together more than 1,000 people from multiple locations in a confined space for a high-risk event.

This could be gross negligence if this proceeds and avoidable harm is caused to individuals.

They were unaware that the contest was going ahead and are very frustrated as this was against Public Health England's advice. It was pointed out that this meant that the organisers were personally liable when proceeding with the contest against advice.

As the legislation is not yet in place to prevent large public gatherings Public Health England were unable to act immediately to cancel the contest.

A record has been made of the event on the national database to make it easier, quicker and ultimately safer if any of the people attending today do develop corona in the next 14 days.

Anyone attending the regional contests who is subsequently unwell should report attendance at the events to NHS 111 to be referred to Public Health England for tracing."

Regional Championships

The statement also addresses the Regional Championship events going on this weekend.

"For the avoidance of doubt, the liability for proceeding for this weekend's regional events resides with the WEBBA (West of England Brass Band Association) and NoE (North of England) committees respectively, both collectively and individually as organisers of each individual event, and Kapitol Promotions Ltd. and its directors as the event promoter and owner of the the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, that these events form part of.

The organisers have a 'duty of care' and 'duty to provide a safe environment' to its participants and failure to prevent harm or death through the actions of the organising committee knowingly against advice from BBE and Public Health England could represent 'gross negligence'.

It is strongly advised the organisers take legal advice about potential liability.

BBE would also like to offer our support to the organisers of the London and Southern Counties regional contest for making the very difficult decision to cancel the contest next weekend (21-22 March) and highlight that they made this decision in advance of advice from BBE being published."

We recommend, on the specific advice of Public Health England, that our member bands do not take part in band contests for the foreseeable futureBrass Bands England

Updated advice for Bands

The statement concludes:

"Whilst we have no role in the running of the regional contests, we do have many member bands competing for which we have a duty to provide advice and guidance, many of which have contacted us directly for these.

We recommend, on the specific advice of Public Health England, that our member bands do not take part in band contests for the foreseeable future.

With the above statement in mind bands should consider the duty of care and requirement to provide a safe environment for their members. It is imperative that no pressure to attend events is placed on any member.

We have received many reports to the effect of players feeling forced to attend 'not to let down their band' over the past 72 hours.

Continued attendance in light of this advice again could be deemed 'gross negligence' through failure to prevent harm or death through the actions of the organisation.

We recommend that any band taking part in the ongoing areas contests take legal advice about potential liability."

Further details

The statement can be seen at:
https://www.bbe.org.uk/news/15032020-0022/bbe-statement-the-covid-19-pandemic