Celebs on TV not wearing masks

[gingas]

Hi all.
Just watching a celeb cookery show on TV. I'm wondering why, what with Covid, for the sake of entertainment, the celebrities are in one area (albeit a large one) together when on the very same channel (BBC) we're constantly being told to leave nothing to chance... and tearful nurses and lots of deaths have been on the news constantly.
I did read about the measures the programme makers took to safeguard people. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3r77hsk2WMBtJ7Lx3tRMcqj/how-we-made-celebrity-best-home-cook-during-covid-19#:~:text=As%20an%20additional%20precaution%20all,words%20and%20a%202m%20stick!
One thing is that the participants get tested every three days, as well as temperature checking, etc.
But what if they catch Covid in between and potentially spread it to each other? And won't they have potentially spread it prior to symptoms showing (so temperature check not really a safeguard)?

And some could be asymptomatic anyway and cough over the food.
They're in one enclosed area (germs move about), cooking and handling food for three famous foodies and no one is wearing a mask (yet we're told that the off-camera staff wore masks).
Is one of the rules for the cooks to never, ever touch their mouths or noses after hand sanitizing, as they go about their cooking? I doubt it.
They're seemingly not living in a bubble.
and the food experts are moving up and down a staircase with a railing so presumably touching it occasionally.
I have nothing against the show itself (honest!) and i never normally write posts or dwell on stuff like this, but when there are so many elderly, lonely, scared people staying indoors - because that's what we've been told to do - this just seems to fly in the face of these government rules.
I may be missing something obvious, but i find it very confusing. We're being told really grave in stuff by the news/media but a fair few of the TV shows don't seem to reflect this.
Any thoughts on this?
Oh and I'm really not as anal as I sound. It's just bugging me (clearly!).

Also far far fewer people on set than previous, as production staff etc can zoom into set from home. My husband spent a day at our kitchen table patched into a studio recording all day, he could hear everyone who was mic-ed etc

@dementedpixie

None of the talk shows or cookery shows have people wearing masks. I'm glad tbh

Me too. I don’t want masks to be normalised. How could you taste food on a TV show with a mask on?

they are taking a chance in between test days that we are told not to.

No, they aren't. We're all told to work from home if we can, but not everyone can. We're all told to wear masks in public places, and at work if possible, but it's not always possible. They are following exactly the same rules as everyone else.

Hi cripez.
Thanks for that. I assume there are fewer people on set, but I thought we were all about minimising risk. Especially if it's not for something essential.
So.. if they're not isolating for the duration, and if they, say, drive themselves to a supermarket, for example in the evening after a shoot and in between testing, they may catch Covid and spread it to their colleagues. Just for a TV show that could be formatted differently?

So why do some TV shows make sure their people are in bubbles?
It's not the sane rules.
Rules are supposed to be sent when absolutely necessary. Are shows in this particular format absolutely necessary?

Sane? Same I mean
Sent?? Bent
That last para was also directed at bridgetreilly.

STOP FUCKING PANICKING.

No, you're right and the experts who put all the rules for making TV programmes are wrong.

🤦🏻‍♀️

Minimising is not the same as eliminating.

They aren't bending the rules! They are following the rules that are applicable to them, same as other workplaces might be.

I think some shows bubbled initially as there didn't seem to be any other way of production going ahead (most production ground to a halt in lockdown 1). Now there are protocols in place, and there is lots of guidance (and the unions making sure their members are protected!).

Your comment about someone going to a supermarket on the way home - so could someone in an office who isn't wearing a mask all day. Do you know people who aren't working from home? Have you spoken to them about how it's working in their places of work?

@gingas

Hi CasperGutman No it's not. It's inspired by my dislike of double standards when we're being told, in no uncertain terms, how grave this situation is. But hey, it's ok to take a wee chance for telly entertainment.

I'm personally very grateful that content providers have worked so hard to accommodate filming so that abiding by the rules is a little bit easier for the rest of it.

OK, it's not ENSA, but having been personally responsible for making a workplace covid secure, I appreciate the efforts they've gone to, and that there are people willing to participate.

Hi EmmaStone. The Great Pottery Throwdown filmed in a bubble in the Autumn, apparently.
Re office workers, yes I know. But if a (hardly essential) cookery show can be formatted differently without people who aren't self isolating handling food, then why not do that?
And NothingIsGoing2GetBetterItsNot
I'm not panicking. At all. I'm making a valid point.

For all shows like that they are quarantined in the same hotel and in the same bubble.

@gingas

Hi cripez. Thanks for that. I assume there are fewer people on set, but I thought we were all about minimising risk. Especially if it's not for something essential. So.. if they're not isolating for the duration, and if they, say, drive themselves to a supermarket, for example in the evening after a shoot and in between testing, they may catch Covid and spread it to their colleagues. Just for a TV show that could be formatted differently?

So why do some TV shows make sure their people are in bubbles?
It's not the sane rules.
Rules are supposed to be sent when absolutely necessary. Are shows in this particular format absolutely necessary?

They don't drive to the supermarket. They quarantine the whole time they film.

@gingas

Hi EmmaStone. The Great Pottery Throwdown filmed in a bubble in the Autumn, apparently. Re office workers, yes I know. But if a (hardly essential) cookery show can be formatted differently without people who aren't self isolating handling food, then why not do that? And NothingIsGoing2GetBetterItsNot I'm not panicking. At all. I'm making a valid point.

Oh God, if the only content on TV was repeats and 'essential' programming (presumably you'd define as news programming), we'd all be miserable and moaning then!

I could be wrong, I think Pottery is the same prod co as Bake Off, so I suspect they were using the same format that had worked for them on Bake Off. For something with regular different contributors, bubbling just wouldn't be practical.

You know how most big companies have a H&S person? Well TV sets have them too. And they also now have Covid H&S specialists advising them on making sets Covid secure. A lot of paperwork has to be filled out and a lot of protocols have to be observed.

I had this conversation with dh last night. They're not doing anything wrong but it seems to give off the wrong message.