The EBU releases a statement regarding Duncan Laurence’s COVID 19 test

by Sanjay (Sergio) Jiandani 2,989 views

The European Broadcasting Union has released a statement following Duncan Laurence’s COVID 19 test results.

The reigning Dutch Eurovision champion, Duncan Laurence, has tested positive for COVID 19, hence he will not grace the Eurovision stage during the Grand Final on Saturday 22 May.

The EBU has released the following statement:

Duncan Laurence, winner of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest for the Netherlands, was scheduled to perform live during Saturday’s Grand Final, has tested positive for COVID-19, his management and the Host Broadcaster have confirmed. Duncan has mild symptoms. Because of the 7 day minimum isolation period, Duncan will not be able to perform live in the Ahoy venue in Rotterdam, but will still feature in the show in a different form.

Last Monday, Duncan tested negative in the Eurovision Test Pavilion, which granted him access to the venue for his performance in the first Semi-Final. On Wednesday, he showed mild symptoms and then unfortunately delivered a positive result in a rapid antigen test.

A strict COVID-19 health and safety protocol is being applied at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. All those working within the perimeter of the venue must be in possession of a negative COVID-19 test, not older than 48 hours.

Since 6 April, when the load-in started in Ahoy, over 24,400 tests have been conducted amongst crew, volunteers, artists, delegation members and press. Only 16 of those (0.06%) have returned positive results. In most cases, they were from people who hadn’t previously been to the venue, or who hadn’t been there recently. To date, no infections have been conclusively traced back to the venue.

Sietse Bakker (Eurovision Song Contest 2021 Executive Producer) says:

We are of course disappointed, first of all for Duncan, who deserves a live performance on our very own Eurovision stage after his 2019 victory and the worldwide success of Arcade. We couldn’t be more proud of his opening act for the first Semi-Final. Of course we wish Duncan a speedy recovery.

Duncan Laurence’s management says:

Duncan is very disappointed, he has been looking forward to this for two years. We are very happy that he will still be seen in the final on Saturday, May 22.

ESCToday sends its full support to Duncan Laurence in these pressing and hard times. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Source: EBU