As of June 21, 2022, according to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, COVID-19 infections increased in a week (with around 1.4 million people having coronavirus in the week ending 11 June), the overall hospital admission rate of COVID-19-confirmed patients in england increased, deaths involving coronavirus increased, and 1 out of 32 people reported long COVID symptoms.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 2.7 million people in the uk, are estimated to have had Covid-19 between the 4th and 10th of July, up 18% from 2.3 million the previous week.

Yet, england is not the sole territory experiencing such a new wave - a dialectical method vastly used so that people think such increases as temporary, while the pandemic has been one big wave since the very beginning.

scotland, portugal, germany, italy, the usa, and many other territories in the west, are currently in the same circumstances, but why? The answer is pretty simple. The COVID-19 issue has been swept under the carpet in order to return to normality and sustain the capitalistic system in which the west has been immersed for centuries.

Where does the music industry stand in this? With a vastly shared negligence towards tackling the COVID-19 crisis (or any other) through a lack of adequate health and safety procedures, and preserving long-established, unsustainable modus operandi, the music industry has purposely returned to its barbaric roots as soon as the emergency was defined as “over” - a historical scientific breakthrough if diseases truly had an expiring date - by the same leaders who brought increased poverty for the masses, and excruciating profits for corporates, while rejecting the same health and safety measures that they introduced.

All of this without suffering any consequences for their public mismanagement.

While the media has rightly indicated the platinum jubilee celebrations as the reason for the increase in COVID-19 infections (see pictures above for what occurred during that week), that appears as a very limited argument, which neglects all of the other large gatherings that have occurred since 21 Feb 2022 - when Boris Johnson announced an end to restrictions in england.

Furthermore, without free, and mandatory access, to COVID-19 test kits, there is no doubt that the number of COVID-19 infections recorded on a daily basis is less than what it actually is, as people are simply not getting tested (and reporting their results), as much as they used to in 2020, and 2021.

Where does this leave us? Since 2020, we have been campaigning to bring real change to Club Culture, and society. The (neo) liberal model that has been pursued (the arts and culture equivalent of the neo-liberal system in which the west lives) has become ever more inefficient, and inadequate, putting people at risk, largely contributing to global warming, creating huge disparities, while also creating hostile conditions for many.

As such, what is needed is a move away from the industry, towards an environment/ecosystem - one that will be inclusive and fair, that will look after the planet, society, and every single aspect. Not one that will be based on profit-based, exploiting, negligent doctrines.

The first step to #REBUILDOURSCENE is to stop such large gatherings from taking place or from attracting large crowds, until serious changes, and health & safety procedures won’t be developed, and adequately implemented.

This will be a once-in-a-lifetime change where the arts and culture, as a whole, can be reformed and made more equal, diverse, and open. Not only that, the shift must involve the creation of a. less greedy, consumeristic, and capitalistic environment/ecosystem, as it never was, right from the start.

We ask you to sign our petition at change.org/p/rebuildourscene and share it.