Andrew Lloyd Webber, Ralph Fiennes, Tom Stoppard, and More Sign Letter Supporting Covid-Status Certifications

Leaders in the theatre industry are calling on the Prime Minister to introduce Covid-status certification to help revive the arts sector, WhatsOnStage reports.

The open letter has been signed by members of the arts industry including Ralph Fiennes, Meera Syal, Tom Stoppard, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Adrian Lester, Simon Rattle and Andrew Lloyd Webber. The letter states that certifications would help revive "the beating heart of society, providing jobs and entertainment to people of all ages."

Also included in the letter is the importance of making any certification non-discriminatory and available to all, based either on vaccination status, presence of a negative Covid test or antibodies.

"We strongly support the government's ambition to return to full capacity audiences without restrictions as soon as possible, and we recognise that this can be only be achieved through gathering evidence that it is safe to remove or lessen restrictions, including looking at how Covid-status certification could aid the reduction of social distancing," the letter states.

Read more on WhatsOnStage.

This letter comes after another was recently signed by 156 musicians, calling on the government to take action over streaming rights. This letter was signed by musicians including Annie Lennox, Paloma Faith, Chris Martin, Gary Barlow, Paul McCartney, Rebecca Ferguson, Bob Geldof, Boy George, Noel Gallagher and Kate Bush and asks for changes in legislation to "put the value of music back where it belongs - in the hands of music makers".