COVID-19 Insurance: The Hidden Cost in Entertainment

Why the risks of COVID-19 can disappear from public conversation while remaining very real for performers, athletes, freelancers and the businesses that depend on them.

Table of Contents

Does COVID-19 Still Affect Entertainment, Sport and Insurance?

Yes. COVID-19 can still affect entertainment and sport through illness, disrupted work, lost income and insurance arrangements. During the pandemic, the UK government introduced special schemes because commercial insurance was not adequately covering certain COVID-related production and event risks. Industry documents continued to identify insurance gaps after the emergency phase had ended.

Research also shows that some people experience prolonged health problems after COVID-19, including Long COVID, which can affect physical performance, concentration and the ability to work.

However, an insurance exclusion does not prove that an individual has Long COVID, and a cancelled concert or an athlete’s unexplained absence should never be attributed to COVID-19 without evidence.

The more important question is what happens to people’s careers when illness becomes a financial risk that employers, organisers and insurers must manage.

Key Facts

COVID-19 created a documented insurance gap. The UK established a £500 million Film and TV Production Restart Scheme because productions struggled to obtain commercially viable cover for COVID-related losses.
The problem did not vanish immediately after restrictions ended. In April 2024, advertising industry trade bodies updated a production agreement that explicitly acknowledged continuing COVID-related insurance difficulties.
Insurance policies are not all the same. Coverage depends on the insurer, policy wording, exclusions, circumstances and dates involved.
Long COVID can affect professional performance. Symptoms such as fatigue, cognitive impairment, breathlessness and post-exertional malaise may make physically or mentally demanding work difficult.
Athletes are not automatically protected by being fit. Research has documented persistent symptoms and reduced exercise capacity in some athletes following COVID-19.
Freelancers may be particularly exposed financially. Missed performances or contracts can mean lost earnings without the protection available to some employees.
A cancellation is not a diagnosis. There is no reliable basis for assuming that an artist’s exhaustion, an athlete’s retirement or an unexplained absence is caused by COVID-19.
The wider issue is about work, identity and inequality. Who can afford to be ill, who receives support and whose career can survive an unpredictable recovery?

The Show Goes On. But What Happens to the People Who Can’t?

Imagine a musician preparing for a concert.

Months of rehearsals. Travel booked. A venue full of people expecting an extraordinary evening.

For the audience, the performance lasts two hours.

For the musician, those two hours depend on everything that happened before: the practice, the concentration, the physical endurance and the ability to recover in time to do it all again tomorrow.

Now imagine becoming ill.

Not simply missing a few days of work, but waking up weeks later and discovering that holding your instrument feels difficult. That noise is overwhelming. That an hour of concentration leaves you exhausted.

You might still be able to play.

Just not for as long.

Not as reliably.

Not knowing whether tomorrow will be better or worse.

What happens to a career built around the expectation that you can perform when the curtain rises?

This is one of the less visible consequences of Long COVID.

And it raises a question that extends far beyond music.

What happens when our workplaces are organised around predictable performance, but human health is no longer predictable?

Entertainment and professional sport offer an unusually clear view of this problem because performance is so public.

The audience sees the concert, match or film.

It rarely sees the negotiations, insurance contracts, sick days, lost opportunities or difficult decisions behind them.

1. When COVID-19 Became Less Visible, Did the Risk Disappear?

During the early pandemic, COVID-19 dominated entertainment and sports news.

Film sets closed. Sporting fixtures were postponed. Festivals were cancelled.

The reasons were discussed openly because the pandemic affected almost every part of public life.

Over time, the language changed.

COVID-19 became less prominent in everyday conversation. Productions resumed. Stadiums filled. Tours returned.

That return mattered enormously. These industries provide livelihoods, connection, joy and a sense of normality.

But a return to normal activity is not the same thing as the disappearance of every associated health or financial risk.

This is where the distinction between public visibility and institutional risk management becomes interesting.

An audience may no longer think about COVID-19 when buying a concert ticket.

An event organiser, meanwhile, may still need to consider what happens if a key performer becomes ill.

A film producer may need to know whether a production can continue without a particular actor.

An insurer may need to decide exactly which circumstances a policy covers.

Those are different conversations, taking place in different rooms.

And the second conversation is often invisible to the public.

What the research actually allows us to say

We cannot establish that entertainers and athletes are collectively hiding COVID-related illness.

Nor can we assume that vague descriptions such as exhaustion, personal reasons or health problems are code for Long COVID.

People have many reasons to keep medical information private.

But we can investigate whether the industries themselves have continued to recognise COVID-related disruption as a financial and operational issue.

On that question, there is documentary evidence.

2. What the Insurance Industry Actually Said About COVID-19

One of the most revealing records is not a celebrity interview.

It is a UK government scheme.

Why Britain needed a £500 million film and television insurance scheme

In July 2020, the UK government announced the Film and TV Production Restart Scheme.

The problem was straightforward: productions were struggling to secure insurance for certain COVID-related risks on commercially viable terms.

Without adequate protection against potentially expensive shutdowns, some productions could not obtain the financing needed to begin or resume filming.

The government-backed scheme was designed to address that gap.

According to the government’s evaluation, it supported 1,259 productions, with 452 claims submitted.

The scheme eventually closed, but its existence remains significant.

It shows that COVID-related illness and disruption were considered serious enough financial risks to interfere with the operation of an entire industry.

This was not an opinion about whether COVID was socially acceptable to discuss.

It was a documented problem involving financing, insurance and production continuity.

Source: UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport — Film and TV Production Restart Scheme.

The particularly revealing 2024 industry agreement

In April 2024, three UK advertising industry organisations — the IPA, ISBA and APA — published an updated version of their Commercial Production Coronavirus Tripartite Addendum.

Their explanation was unusually direct.

Although COVID-19 was no longer an emergency, it remained a potential problem for productions while relevant insurance cover was unavailable.

The organisations recommended continuing to use the agreement until the problem was resolved or the insurance industry became prepared to cover the relevant risks.

The page carried a March 2025 update.

This is a valuable piece of evidence because it comes from the industry itself.

It demonstrates that, at least within this part of commercial production, the end of the public emergency did not immediately eliminate the need for specific contractual arrangements.

Source: Institute of Practitioners in Advertising — Coronavirus Tripartite Addendum.

What about concerts, festivals and sporting events?

The UK also established a Live Events Reinsurance Scheme in 2021.

It was designed to help organisers obtain cover for certain cancellations caused by new government COVID restrictions.

The scheme included eligible live music, festivals, sporting events and other public events.

Importantly, its scope was limited.

It did not insure every possible illness or every reason an event might be cancelled.

That distinction matters when discussing insurance.

A policy covering cancellation because of government restrictions is not necessarily the same as one covering the illness of a performer.

And neither automatically provides income protection to the freelance worker who loses a booking.

Source: UK Government — Live Events Reinsurance Scheme.

3. Does Insurance Excluding COVID Mean Insurers Know Something the Public Doesn’t?

This is an understandable question.

If society has largely moved on, why would an insurer still treat COVID-related losses differently?

But there is an important difference between an interesting question and a conclusion the evidence can support.

Insurers assess the financial consequences of events. They consider matters such as the likelihood of a claim, the size of potential losses, uncertainty, whether losses could occur across many customers simultaneously and the wording of the contract.

An infectious disease can create a particularly difficult insurance problem because a single outbreak may affect numerous productions or events at once.

That is different from insuring against an isolated accident.

So when an insurer excludes a particular risk, it may reflect the difficulty of pricing or absorbing correlated losses.

It does not, by itself, establish how common Long COVID is, prove that repeated infections are causing particular career endings or reveal a hidden medical consensus.

Equally, insurance exclusions should not be dismissed as meaningless.

They can reveal how businesses distribute financial risk.

The important questions are:

What exactly is excluded?
Does the exclusion apply to infection, government restrictions, a performer becoming ill or some combination?
Who pays if the event cannot proceed?
Does the individual worker have separate protection?
What happens when illness lasts months rather than days?

These are questions journalists, unions, policymakers and workers can investigate using actual policy documents and contracts.

Event cancellation insurance is not the same as income protection

This distinction is easily overlooked.

A concert promoter may insure against certain costs of cancelling a performance.

That does not necessarily mean a musician receives replacement income.

Similarly, a film production may have insurance designed to protect the production budget.

That does not automatically protect every freelancer against prolonged illness.

A performer may also have personal income protection or other cover, but eligibility and exclusions depend on the particular policy.

There is no basis for claiming that insurers universally charge higher premiums to everyone with a previous COVID infection.

Any such claim would need specific underwriting evidence.

For people living with Long COVID, the practical lesson is to examine the actual terms of any cover rather than assuming that an industry insurance policy protects their personal livelihood.

4. The Human Story: When a Musician’s Body Stops Cooperating

Cellist Joshua Roman has spoken publicly about his experience of Long COVID.

Before becoming ill, his career depended on an extraordinary level of musical and physical ability.

After COVID-19, he experienced debilitating fatigue and cognitive difficulties.

In an interview published by Stanford Medicine in February 2025, Roman described periods when even lifting his cello bow was difficult.

Think about that for a moment.

A musician can spend years developing the precise movements needed to produce a sound.

Those movements become part of their professional identity.

Then an illness can make the most familiar action feel almost impossible.

Roman’s story is not simply about whether he could return to a stage.

It is about how illness changes the relationship between a person and the work that has shaped their life.

His subsequent musical work and public conversations also show that adaptation can take many forms.

But his experience should not be used to promise that everyone with Long COVID will recover sufficiently to return to a demanding career.

Different people experience different trajectories.

Source: Stanford Medicine — He Wouldn’t Let Long COVID Stop the Music.

For readers living through something similar, the details may feel familiar even if their work is very different.

The teacher who can no longer manage a classroom.

The parent who cannot get through a school day and then care for their children.

The office worker who can still write an email but cannot sustain eight hours of concentration.

The job changes.

The underlying question doesn’t.

How do you keep a career when the abilities it depends on become unreliable?

5. Long COVID in Athletes: What Does the Research Show?

Professional sport is built around a particular assumption.

Training improves performance.

Recovery allows the body to adapt.

And physical limits can be pushed in carefully managed ways.

Long COVID can complicate that model.

Some people experience persistent breathlessness, fatigue, cardiovascular symptoms, cognitive problems or exercise intolerance after infection.

For those with post-exertional malaise (PEM), symptoms may worsen after physical or cognitive exertion, sometimes with a delay.

That is not the same as ordinary tiredness after training.

What studies of athletes have found

A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis examined aerobic fitness following COVID-19 in athletes.

It included 26 studies involving 2,625 athletes.

The researchers reported lower aerobic fitness in some post-COVID groups, with particularly notable differences among athletes experiencing persistent symptoms.

However, the studies varied in their methods, populations and timing of assessment.

These findings do not mean that every athlete experiences lasting impairment after COVID-19.

They do demonstrate why persistent symptoms should not automatically be dismissed because someone was previously fit.

Research: Aerobic Fitness Dynamics in Post-COVID-19 Athletes — Sports, 2025.

Why this matters for a sporting career

Consider a professional athlete whose performance has fallen slightly.

For most people, a modest reduction in stamina might be frustrating.

For someone competing at the highest level, it may affect selection, contracts, sponsorship or whether they can continue in their profession.

And not every limitation is visible on television.

An athlete may look well during a brief appearance but struggle with recovery afterwards.

Another may return to competition successfully.

Both experiences are possible.

What we cannot do is look at an athlete’s performance decline and diagnose Long COVID from a distance.

In our guide to why exercise can worsen Long COVID symptoms, we explain why the usual advice to push through fatigue may be inappropriate for people experiencing PEM.

6. The People Behind the Stage Are Often More Financially Exposed

When a major concert is cancelled, attention naturally turns to the performer.

But a tour involves far more people than the name on the ticket.

There are sound engineers, lighting technicians, drivers, stage crews, dancers, costume teams, session musicians, caterers and local contractors.

Many work from project to project.

Some have no guaranteed income between bookings.

And the economic consequences of illness can be very different depending on the person’s contract.

What the UK Musicians’ Census tells us

According to the Musicians’ Union, 72% of musicians work freelance for at least part of their working lives.

The 2023 Musicians’ Census found that average annual income from music work was £20,700, with 43% earning less than £14,000 from music.

These figures do not measure Long COVID.

But they tell us something important about the financial environment in which illness occurs.

When earnings are already uncertain, losing several weeks of work can have consequences well beyond the missed performance.

There may be rent to pay.

Equipment purchased on credit.

Travel expenses that cannot be recovered.

A family relying on that income.

And future bookings that depend on being available when someone calls.

Source: Musicians’ Union — UK Musicians’ Census.

The unequal ability to be ill

This is where the sociological question becomes unavoidable.

Two people can experience similar symptoms but face very different consequences.

One may have savings, paid sick leave, a supportive employer and the ability to reduce their workload.

Another may be self-employed, financially stretched and dependent on their next booking.

The medical condition may be similar.

The economic outcome may not be.

That difference can influence whether someone rests, seeks medical care, discloses symptoms or attempts to keep working.

It can also affect whether they can remain in their profession at all.

7. The Pressure to Perform: Why People May Keep Working While Ill

Entertainment and sport reward reliability.

People are expected to arrive prepared.

Perform on schedule.

Meet deadlines.

Deliver under pressure.

Those expectations are understandable. A production or competition depends on coordination.

But they can create a difficult environment for someone living with fluctuating illness.

Imagine telling an employer:

“I can probably do the work, but I don’t know how I will feel the following day.”

Or explaining to a manager:

“I can rehearse for an hour, but I may need two days to recover.”

That uncertainty can be hard to accommodate in work organised around fixed dates and performance targets.

The fear of becoming replaceable

For some workers, the concern is not simply whether colleagues will understand.

It is whether they will be offered the next job.

A freelancer may worry that mentioning health problems will make them seem unreliable.

An athlete may worry about selection.

A performer may worry about disappointing an audience.

A crew member may worry about being replaced.

These are plausible pressures, not evidence that any particular person has concealed Long COVID.

But they help explain why discussing illness at work can be complicated.

Silence is not always the result of a formal instruction.

Sometimes it grows out of uncertainty about what disclosure might cost.

What employment research adds

A 2025 qualitative study in Health Expectations analysed interviews with 60 people in England experiencing persistent COVID-19 symptoms.

Researchers identified difficulties managing symptoms at work, changes to employment and effects on identity and wellbeing.

The findings were not specific to entertainment or sport.

That is precisely why they matter.

They suggest that the conflict between illness and professional identity is part of a much wider social problem.

Research: Long COVID and Employment Changes in England — Health Expectations, 2025.

For a deeper look at the loss of professional identity, see our article on how Long COVID interrupts careers, hobbies and identity. [Editorial note: replace this placeholder with the verified URL of the relevant LCJ article before publication.]

8. When Your Career Is More Than Your Income

There is another loss that financial statistics rarely capture.

For a dancer, movement may have been part of life since childhood.

For a singer, the voice may feel inseparable from identity.

For an athlete, training may have structured every day for years.

For a film worker, being on set may be more than a job. It may be a community, a purpose and a way of life.

When illness interrupts that work, the loss can be difficult to describe.

It is not simply missing a salary.

It can mean losing familiar routines, friendships, confidence and a sense of who you are.

And it can be especially painful when other people assume that, because you look well, you must be ready to return.

The difference between being able to do something and being able to sustain it

Someone may manage one performance.

One meeting.

One training session.

That does not necessarily mean they can repeat it every day.

For people with PEM, the consequences of exertion may emerge hours or days later.

Our article on post-exertional malaise in Long COVID explains why a single successful activity does not always indicate sustainable recovery.

This distinction is essential in careers where success is measured publicly.

The audience sees what someone managed to do.

It does not necessarily see what it cost them afterwards.

9. What Does Long COVID Cost the Wider Economy?

There is evidence that Long COVID has affected employment and earnings.

But estimates need to be read carefully.

An Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis published in 2022 estimated that people with Long COVID worked fewer hours and had lower average monthly earnings than they otherwise would have.

A later UK cohort study involving more than 200,000 participants found an association between persistent Long COVID symptoms and reduced labour-market participation.

Neither study isolates the entertainment or sports industries.

And their findings should not be treated as a precise measure of today’s economic burden.

They do, however, support a broader conclusion: prolonged illness can affect the ability to work, not just a person’s health.

In March 2025, the UK government cited government-funded research estimating a £5.7 billion economic impact associated with people with Long COVID being unable to work as before, based on the period and methods studied.

That was a research estimate, not an annual cost figure or a current live total.

Sources:

The numbers matter.

But they are not the whole story.

Behind every statistic may be someone who reduced their hours, turned down a promotion, stopped accepting bookings or left work entirely.

10. Why Insurance, Employment and Public Health Should Be Part of the Same Conversation

Insurance and medicine ask different questions.

Medicine asks what is happening to the person.

Insurance asks what financial loss might occur and whether a contract covers it.

Employment law and workplace policy ask what obligations and protections apply.

Public health asks how illness can be prevented or reduced across a population.

These questions overlap, but they are not interchangeable.

An insurer recognising a financial risk does not settle a scientific debate.

A medical diagnosis does not automatically guarantee an insurance payout.

And a worker being capable of occasional activity does not necessarily mean they can meet the requirements of full-time employment.

Yet these systems often interact at the moment when someone is most vulnerable.

A person becomes ill.

Their income changes.

They need medical evidence.

An employer needs to make decisions.

An insurer may assess eligibility.

And the individual is expected to navigate all of this while unwell.

That is a considerable burden.

It is also why the conversation about Long COVID should extend beyond symptoms and treatments.

It must include financial security, reasonable adjustments, access to care and the design of work itself.

11. What Would a More Honest Conversation Look Like?

It would not require every celebrity or athlete to disclose their private medical history.

Nor would it mean blaming every cancelled event on COVID-19.

A more honest conversation would begin with better questions.

For entertainment and sports organisations: What health-related risks are recognised in contracts and insurance policies? Who carries the financial consequences when work stops?

For employers: Can work be adapted for people with fluctuating symptoms? Is there a route back that does not require immediate full performance?

For unions and professional associations: Are freelancers receiving clear information about sick pay, income protection, cancellation terms and workplace rights?

For researchers: What do we know about the long-term effects of infection on occupational performance, particularly in physically demanding and freelance professions?

For journalists: Can we investigate the contracts, data and documented experiences without speculating about the private health of public figures?

And for the rest of us: Can we stop assuming that being absent from work is the only sign of illness?

Sometimes the more revealing story is the person who is still working, but only just.

12. Why Prevention Still Belongs in This Conversation

The financial consequences of illness make prevention relevant, even when the public conversation has moved elsewhere.

COVID-19 is transmitted through the air, and the risk of infection can be reduced through measures such as improved indoor ventilation, appropriate air filtration and well-fitting respiratory protection.

No single measure eliminates every risk.

But prevention is not only about avoiding a cancelled performance tomorrow.

It is also about reducing the possibility of an illness that could affect someone’s ability to work for much longer.

For the science behind airborne transmission and practical ways to reduce exposure, explore our LongCovidJourney series on airborne COVID-19.

The important principle is straightforward:

Protecting health and protecting livelihoods are not competing goals.

In many circumstances, they are closely connected.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does event cancellation insurance cover COVID-19?

It depends on the policy. Some policies exclude communicable diseases or specific COVID-related circumstances, while others may provide limited or specially negotiated cover. The exact wording and reason for cancellation matter.

Why did the UK government create a COVID film insurance scheme?

Because film and television productions struggled to obtain commercially viable insurance for certain COVID-related losses. The government-backed scheme helped eligible productions manage disruption and restart work.

Are insurers still excluding COVID-19?

COVID-related exclusions and contractual arrangements have existed beyond the initial emergency period, but there is no single rule applying to every current policy. Coverage must be checked with the insurer or broker.

Does an insurance exclusion prove that COVID-19 is still dangerous?

No. Insurance exclusions reflect financial risk assessment and contract design. They are not, by themselves, evidence of the medical risk faced by an individual. Medical conclusions require clinical and epidemiological research.

Can Long COVID end an athlete’s career?

Persistent symptoms can affect exercise capacity, recovery and the ability to compete. In some cases, they may contribute to major career changes. However, outcomes vary, and a specific athlete’s retirement should not be attributed to Long COVID without evidence.

Can musicians develop Long COVID?

Yes. Musicians can develop Long COVID like other people. Symptoms affecting stamina, concentration, coordination or sensory tolerance may be particularly disruptive to their work.

Which musicians have spoken publicly about Long COVID?

Cellist Joshua Roman has publicly discussed his experience, including the effect on his ability to practise and perform. His account has been reported by Stanford Medicine and other established outlets.

Why might freelance performers be more vulnerable financially?

Some freelancers lack the paid sick leave and income security available to employees. Their earnings may depend on individual performances, contracts and future bookings. The exact protections vary.

Does Long COVID affect concentration and professional performance?

It can. Some people experience cognitive difficulties, fatigue, exercise intolerance and other symptoms that interfere with sustained work. The nature and severity of impairment vary.

Is every unexplained concert cancellation or sporting absence related to COVID-19?

No. Illness, injury, personal circumstances, scheduling problems and many other factors can cause cancellations or absences. It is inappropriate to infer someone’s diagnosis from an unexplained announcement.

What can employers do for people with Long COVID?

Depending on the person’s needs and role, possibilities include flexible hours, modified duties, rest breaks, remote work or phased returns. Appropriate arrangements should be discussed individually, with occupational health or specialist input where helpful.

Why does Long COVID matter beyond the entertainment industry?

Because the same problems affect teachers, healthcare workers, parents, office staff, tradespeople and others whose work depends on physical or cognitive capacity. Entertainment and sport simply make some of those pressures easier to see.

Final Thoughts: The Cost of a Show That Must Always Go On

When a concert is cancelled, the audience sees an empty stage.

When an athlete withdraws, spectators see a missing name.

When a production stops, the industry counts the cost.

But there is another story that rarely makes the headlines.

The person who can no longer trust their stamina.

The freelancer who doesn’t know whether to accept the next contract.

The performer who misses the work they love.

The family wondering how long their savings will last.

And the worker who keeps turning up because stopping feels financially impossible.

Insurance documents cannot tell us everything about the long-term health consequences of COVID-19.

But they can show us which risks businesses have recognised, which losses they have tried to protect themselves against and where financial responsibility may fall.

Medical research tells us that prolonged symptoms can affect people’s capacity to work.

Employment research shows that these effects can reach into income, identity and everyday life.

Together, these sources reveal a problem much bigger than the occasional cancelled event.

We have built many careers around the expectation that people can keep performing. We have not always built equally strong systems to support them when they cannot.

And perhaps that is the question worth asking long after the headlines have moved on.

Not simply whether the show can continue.

But what happens to the people who can no longer keep up with it.

Research, Evidence and Further Reading

Insurance and industry documents

UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Film and TV Production Restart Scheme. Government records explaining the insurance gap and intervention.
UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Film and TV Production Restart Scheme: Impact Evaluation. Evaluation of production support, claims and economic impact.
Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, ISBA and APA. Commercial Production Coronavirus Tripartite Addendum. Industry agreement updated in 2024.
UK Government. Live Events Reinsurance Scheme. Information about cover for eligible events affected by government COVID restrictions.
Financial Conduct Authority. Business Interruption Insurance Policy Checker. Historical guidance illustrating why policy wording and exclusions matter; not a determination of current event insurance cover.

Long COVID, performance and employment

Ceglie N, Petito A, Cibelli G. (2024). Return to Play of Young and Adult Professional Athletes After COVID-19: A Scoping Review. Journal of Exercise Science & Fitness.
(2025). A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Aerobic Fitness Dynamics in Post-COVID-19 Athletes. Sports.
Stanford Medicine. (2025). He Wouldn’t Let Long COVID Stop the Music. Joshua Roman’s documented experience.
Musicians’ Union. First UK Musicians’ Census. Data on earnings and freelance work.
Institute for Fiscal Studies. (2022). Long COVID and the Labour Market.
(2024). Employment Outcomes of People With Long COVID Symptoms: Community-Based Cohort Study. European Journal of Public Health.
Guzmán and colleagues. (2025). Long COVID and Employment Changes in England: A Qualitative Interview Study. Health Expectations.