Covid Production Safety Protocols by Region: March 2022

The pandemic catalysed sweeping changes across the advertising industry, and as Covid variants continue causing uncertainty around the globe, APR’s here to help guide you with this quick overview of the world’s varying production protocols, broken down by region or country.

As a growing number of countries experience a decrease in Covid infection rates, many of our clients are wondering if costs will also decrease. Although cases may be on the decline in any region, APR’s experts recommend that marketers continue planning for increased production costs due to continued safety practices, scarcity of crew and talent, increased rates, and contingency plans for fluctuating health and safety requirements. 

These are brief overviews - not an exhaustive list; if you would like a deeper regional or country-level analysis to further understand production safety protocols please contact APR immediately.

UNITED STATES

• The AICP has extended Covid protocols until March 31st, with the TV and Film agreement expiring April 30th. 
• All testing and safety protocols remain.
• Marketers should continue to account for increased budgets while safety protocols change.
• For any non-union or still production work, we encourage you to follow local county and state guidelines.
• Here is a link to the CDC breakdown by county. 

CANADA

• Testing for crew, client, agency, and all ACCP-member companies has been lifted as of March 1st, 2022.
• Crew, client, and agency must continue to show proof of double vaccination to come to set.
• All ACTRA and UDA talent still require PCR testing within 72 hrs. of the shoot date.
• APR still highly recommend holding backup talent.
• All other Covid protocols remain in place across Canada.
• Masking requirements are likely to stay in place in major centres like Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal - even with the relaxation of protocols by the provincial governments. The ACCP is reluctant to ease protocols other than PCR testing right now.

MEXICO

• Covid safety protocols are still in place.
• While there is no official union in Mexico, the number of people on set is still determined by AMFI protocols - which are ruled by the colour of the government’s traffic light system.
• If a region is in the red there are no shooting permits; if a region is yellow, the amount of people on set is limited.

BRAZIL

• The pandemic is still a concern and safety protocols are still being enforced.
• The overall perception across unions is that Covid protocols made the industry’s work possible through the worst days of the pandemic. So, for now, the removal of any of these measures is not yet a priority.

ENGLAND

• All government-enforced Covid regulations have been lifted.
• However, the APA recently updated their regulations to require adherence to the same shooting guidelines as before - citing the Health and Safety Act of 1974 as their basis.

MAINLAND EUROPE

• There is a wide range of policy updates occurring in mainland Europe.
• While many regions - like Denmark, Germany, Greece, etc. - do not have regulations in place like foreign/domestic travel restrictions, or crew/cast limits, there are still high levels of infections in areas like France, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, & others that still necessitate certain production safety protocols.
• However, according to the ECDC, “All countries reported a decreasing case notification rate when compared with the previous week.”

AUSTRALIA

• There is no definite end date for crew/talent Covid testing.
• Shoots are still being conducted, requiring that all crew and cast are tested regularly while many sets are operating under a vaccine-passport-only protocol.
• Health Declarations are still required for anyone entering a set/shooting location.
• Australia’s QR code system enables accurate contact tracing should an infection occur.
• People may travel domestically depending on the State and its current alert level. International flight restrictions have recently been lifted, enabling the possibility for offshore productions.

CHINA

• PCR testing is still required - especially for crew members and talent traveling between cities and provinces. There doesn’t appear to be any sign that these measures will end any time soon - at least not until positive cases decrease dramatically.
• Each city has different rules & regulations dependent on confirmed Covid cases.
• Shanghai: Shanghai resumed normal production practices a while ago, and the production process is comparable to how it was before the pandemic.
• Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Airport Authority announced that “until 15th March 2022 23:59 HKT, transfer and transit services at Hong Kong International Airport will be limited to customers coming from non-high-risk places.”

MALAYSIA

• Malaysia is in Phase four - meaning that indoor and outdoor shooting is permitted so long as strict regulations are followed.
• There is no specified end date for crew/talent testing in sight, as Omicron cases are still spiking.

NEW ZEALAND

• Crew/talent testing is still required.
• New Zealand is a few months behind most of the world, with Omicron just starting to exponentially increase, potentially several weeks away from its peak. Meanwhile, the NZ Government is under increased pressure to relax things as other countries have done.
• Shoots are still happening with most sets operating under a vaccine-passport-only protocol.

SOUTH KOREA

• Crew and talent do not require testing.
• The majority of productions are now taking place in South Korea, whereas before - due to the pandemic - a lot of work was shot in Australia and Thailand.

THAILAND

• Even though Coronavirus cases are still high, there are very few safety protocols in place for productions - apart from mask mandates and testing prior to shooting.

Contact APR for support

Again, APR’s recommendation is for marketers to continue planning for increased production costs - even if data shows a decline in Covid cases in any particular country. In many instances, production safety protocols build upon government-enforced health mandates, which - as its witnessed - are subject to massive, potentially overnight, changes. 

APR recognises that this list is not exhaustive in scope or detail. As Covid-related production protocols continue to shift across the globe, APR’s experts are on standby to support you through this changing landscape. Please don’t hesitate to contact APR today if you need support.

Special thanks to Karen Jacobs (president of client solutions) and members of the APR client solutions team for their contributions to this article.