Covid 4th Wave

 

Please see below a letter from Bobby Amm from the CPA :

Dear All

I am sharing with you a letter we sent out yesterday to CPA members.  It goes without saying that the commercial sector of the industry has been severely impacted by the emergence of the Omicron variant and the travel bans that have resulted from it.  We estimate that over R500 million has been lost to our industry in the last 10 days. 

 Despite dozens of cancellations in Cape Town, there is fortunately still some work on the go however in order to maintain this we need your assistance please.  

 Please ask your members to impress upon the crew and talent they represent that attending large festivals, parties, gatherings etc that are currently permitted under Adjusted Alert Level 1 is not conducive to successful shoots as the chances of contracting Covid at these events - even if you are fully vaccinated - is extremely high. 

 If crew & talent arrive on set and test positive for COVID this can have significant consequences for the production and other commercials that may follow it.  Many of our members are funding testing out of their own pockets to ensure that shoots can go ahead safely but they are frustrated that some freelancers appear not to be taking adequate precautions to prevent contracting COVID in the first place. 

 We request that you please communicate to your members the importance of us all working together to try to hold on to the jobs that we do have and, in so doing, create a feeling of confidence that the industry is able to function optimally.  This will be particularly important if things open up again in the next few weeks as it will be difficult to attract work to South Africa if there are dozens of active COVID cases.

 We realise that the festive season is upon us and that people want to enjoy themselves however we need those who are fortunate enough to have work at the moment to please prioritise this and consider the impact of their choices on others.  Please ask the crew and talent to take proper precautions and do everything possible to prevent the spread of COVID as this is going to be vital to our collective survival during the fourth wave. 

 Many thanks & best wishes,

 Bobby

CPA