As part of the prevention plan being prepared by the institution for the holding of events in autumn
The Hospital Clínic advises Fira on the design of the anti-Covid safety protocol at its venues
Fira de Barcelona and the Hospital Clínic have signed a partnership agreement for the drawing up of Covid-19 prevention plans to be applied by the institution at its Montjuïc and Gran Via venues starting in September, when it plans to resume its trade fair activity following the obligatory interruption caused by the pandemic. The Hospital Clínic will contribute to the protocol that Fira is working on with other experts and specialised consultants from a medical and epidemiological point of view to guarantee the health safety of its employees and the organisers and participants of its events once they are resumed.
The agreement, signed by Josep Maria Campistol, the General Manager of the Hospital Clínic, and Constantí Serrallonga, the General Manager of Fira de Barcelona, features ongoing consultancy services to be provided by the healthcare entity, as well as the review and validation of the design of the safety protocols, the structuring of the control requirements and the strategies for resuming the trade fair activity at the venues, from a medical standpoint.
The Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology team led by Dr Antoni Trilla, who is also the Dean of the Medical School of the University of Barcelona and a member of the Covid-19 Scientific Committee which is advising the Government on the management of the health crisis, will be responsible for performing these tasks and ratifying the results.
Constantí Serrallonga, the managing director of Fira de Barcelona, emphasised that “our priority is to resume our trade fair activity in September but, above all, we want to do so with stringent safety measures for all the participants, so having the support of a prestigious institution like the Hospital Clínic will provide us with a guarantee that we can overcome this challenge under the best possible conditions”.
Adapted spaces and capacities
The Hospital Clínic will thus contribute its renowned experience to the drawing up of the prevention and safety guidelines that Fira de Barcelona is working on with certified consultants, which will include employees and exhibitors, visitors, organisers, suppliers and event attendees, particularly those of a professional nature (B2B) with very specific and distinctive characteristics in comparison with other kinds of mass activities.
Among other matters, the protocol will cover the conditioning of spaces, the regulation of visitor flows and numbers, health controls, hygiene, social distancing, the disinfection and cleaning of common areas and stands, health information and support, specific registration systems and the organisation of catering services.
Similarly, the institution has actively participated in the definition of the international recommendations to ensure the health and safety of trade fair and exhibition attendees together with organisations that play an important role in the sector, and of which Fira de Barcelona is a member, such as the EMECA (European Major Exhibition Centres Association) and the UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, as well as with the Spanish Trade Fair Association (AFE), with which it is working to establish a general action protocol for the country with the relevant authorities.
Fira de Barcelona is planning to resume its activity in the final quarter of the year by holding events such as VBBFW (Valmont Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week), BizBarcelona, Alimentaria, Foodtech, the Boat Show, Smart City Expo World Congress, Expoquimia, Eurosurfas and Equiplast.
Barcelona, June 9th 2020
Communications Department
932332659
alosada@firabarcelona.com/ sbilurbina@firabarcelona.com