Protect the Heart of the Arts is a grassroots advocacy campaign to sound the alarm on the Long COVID emergency in the performing arts community.
We advocate for layered mitigations in venues, like clean air and masking, so that performers, crew, venue staff and patrons can safely attend.Long COVID is a potentially career-ending condition, including heart problems, breathing difficulties, ME/CFS and cognitive problems. This can make it impossible to perform. Between 6.6-10% of people in the UK are living with Long COVID and this figure is rising dramatically as policymakers defund public health and fail to guide sound policy.
"Protect the Heart of the Arts" is both literal and symbolic.
COVID-19 isn’t a cold. It’s a serious vascular disease that attacks the body’s systems and organs, including the heart. We believe in the enduring power of the performing arts as the heart of a society, uplifting us in dark times and inspiring us to always seek our most noble potential.The heart of the arts is worth protecting at all costs.
THE RIBBON
The original awareness ribbon was designed by @haziethompson and created through the collective efforts of Long COVID patients in 2022. Its colours are grey for grief, black for isolation, and teal for hope. It has quickly become an international symbol of Long COVID awareness, featured in digital form on social media banners, and as pins, badges, and ribbons at public events.The Protect the Heart of the Arts edition of the ribbon by @coffeeteanxiety adds two pink hearts. One heart’s significance is literal, underlining that COVID is a serious vascular disease. The second symbolises loving-kindness, one heart coming into contact with another in care and compassion.
An acrylic pin version of the ribbon was given to personalities at the 2024 BAFTA. Joanne Froggatt, who plays the lead role on the ITV drama Breathtaking, about healthcare workers in the early stage of the COVID pandemic, wore the Long COVID awareness ribbon pin on an interview with BBC's The One Show.Due to demand, we are making a small batch of acrylic pins available for pre-order. Pins are £20 (10 pin + 10 shipping) and the proceeds will go towards future advocacy activities of the group. If you would like to purchase a pin, please signify your interest via the form below and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
ACRYLIC PIN PRE-ORDER FORM
LINKS
PRESS RELEASE
Joanne Froggatt wears 'Long COVID in Performing Arts' awareness Ribbon on BBC's The One Show
Performers like Dave Navarro, Alyssa Milano, and Sophia Bush speak out about Long COVID struggles
Joanne Froggatt, who plays the lead role on the ITV drama Breathtaking, about healthcare workers in the early stage of the COVID pandemic, wore a Long COVID awareness ribbon pin on an interview with The One Show.
The ribbon pin was launched at the 2024 BAFTAs by Protect the Heart of The Arts, an international grassroots advocacy campaign raising awareness of COVID's devastating impact on the performing arts, in anticipation of Long COVID Awareness Day on March 15th. Some of their Long COVID ribbon pins were given to guests at the Breathtaking premiere on February 13th. Others were handed out on the red carpet at the BAFTAs.
People in the performing arts are at high risk for contracting COVID infections due the public-facing requirements of the profession. Increasingly, high-profile actors and musicians are coming forward with their Long COVID struggles, including Sophia Bush, Alyssa Milano, Colin Farrell, Lena Dunham, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Dave Navarro.Actor Emma Samms recently said, "Every time I've worked since I've had Long COVID, I've had to have a dressing room close to the elevator, a nearby bathroom, a stunt double and a body double for anything strenuous, and my scenes have had to be blocked in a certain way to ensure that I was sitting down most of the time. I'm very lucky that after working on the same show for the past 40 years, the producers have gone the extra mile to accommodate my condition. I can only hope that other producers would do the same."Clinically vulnerable performers also find themselves locked out of their profession due to a lack ofCOVID mitigations. Actor and Clinically Vulnerable Families member Sarah Stanley said, "I became clinically vulnerable after chemotherapy. Performing was my everything. By my 40s, I'd made it to a lead role in the West End and was getting established after many years of hard graft. Sadly, I've seen so many have their health negatively impacted by Covid, including in the performing arts industry. We shouldn't have to risk our health and lives of ourselves and our loved ones in order to work in our industry, especially when the tools, HEPA air purification, audience masking, and better sick pay, already exist and could be implemented."The original Long COVID awareness ribbon was designed by Tracey Thompson in 2022. The Protect the Heart of the Arts' edition of the ribbon adds two pink hearts. One underlines that COVID is a serious vascular disease. The second symbolises community care: one heart coming into contact with another."Protect The Heart Of The Arts' have coordinated multiple events to raise the profile of Long COVID in the Arts. In December 2023, they held a mask handout at the opening weekend of Macbeth at Donmar Warehouse.According to the most recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) figure (last collected in February 2023), 3.1% of the UK population were experiencing Long COVID. Hastie et al.'s population study estimates the current true UK prevalence to be 6.6-10.3%. There is currently no cure for Long Covid.For additional information: ProtectTheHeartOfTheArts.org
Contact: Daniel Cailleach <ProtectTheHeartOfTheArts@gmail.com>
PHOTOS
BAFTA Long Covid Ribbon Giveaway, London, 18 February 2024
PRESS RELEASE
Performing Artists Suffering from Long Covid to Distribute Awareness Ribbons at The BAFTAs
Performers and their allies will distribute Long COVID awareness ribbons at the BAFTAs, with the aim of raising awareness of the devastating impact of Long COVID on the performing arts community.The "Protect the Heart of the Arts" Long COVID ribbon giveaway is scheduled to take place at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, on Sunday 18 February, between 10 am and 6 pm.
“Protect the Heart of the Arts” is an international grassroots advocacy campaign of performers and allies promoting COVID safety in the performing arts. The Long COVID awareness ribbon, designed by Hazie Thompson, was created through the collective efforts of Long COVID patients in 2022. The BAFTAs ribbon giveaway anticipates Long COVID Awareness Day on 15 March, when demonstrations will be held around the world, including Washington DC.In unprecedented numbers, high-profile performers are coming forward with their Long COVID struggles, including Sophia Bush, Alyssa Milano, Colin Farrell, Lena Dunham, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Dave Navarro. Countless more working performers, crew, and venue staff are either long-term sick with Long COVID, or no longer working due to the high risk of reinfection.While the public-facing requirements of performing make the profession high-risk for COVID infections, post-acute COVID health problems are impacting all sections of society. Ranging from new-onset conditions like neurological issues (e.g. changes to smell and taste), memory
problems, ME/CFS and autoimmune disorders, to sudden adverse health events like heart attacks and strokes.Hastie et al. (2023) estimate that between 6.6-10.3% of people in the UK are living with Long COVID. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), that figure includes at least 62,000 children. Over half of people in the UK could meet the criteria for a Long COVID
diagnosis by 2026. There are currently no treatments for Long COVID.A spokesperson for the group, Daniel Cailleach, said: “Awards shows have historically been venues for raising awareness about events impacting the performing arts community. The now-iconic AIDS awareness red ribbon was launched at the 1991 Tony Awards when host Jeremy Irons wore it to show solidarity with performers affected by the AIDS crisis.Once again, a pandemic is devastating the performing arts community. We hope that raising awareness will lead to COVID safety on-set and in venues, effective treatments, and hopefully a cure for Long COVID.”For additional information: ProtectTheHeartOfTheArts.org
Contact: Daniel Cailleach <ProtectTheHeartOfTheArts@gmail.com>
PRESS COVERAGE
PRESS RELEASE
Performing Artists Suffering from Long Covid to Hand-out Masks at David Tennant's Macbeth
“ALAS POOR COUNTRY!”On Saturday 16 December 2023 (6-7:30 pm), "Protect the Heart of the Arts," a campaign of performing artists and their allies sounding the alarm on the Long COVID crisis, will hold a mask hand-out at Donmar Warehouse theatre in London, where David Tenant is playing the lead in Macbeth."Protect the Heart of the Arts" are asking for a reintroduction of audience masking at select performances at London theatres, in response to the UK's escalating Long COVID crisis.Volunteers will distribute masks and information cards about preventing COVID transmission, in order to protect cast, staff and audience members.Long COVID describes long-term health problems persisting - or developing after - COVID infections. Symptoms range from more subtle health complaints, like memory issues, changes to smell/taste and gastrointestinal problems, to more serious health difficulties, like cardiac and pulmonary problems, immune issues, ME/CFS and cognitive dysfunction.Hines et al.'s (2023) population study of Scotland estimates that 6.6-10.3% of people in the UK are living with Long COVID. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), that figure includes at least 87,000 children. 1 in 7 in the UK are projected to catch COVID this winter.Over half of people in the UK could meet the criteria for a Long COVID diagnosis by 2026.Crowded indoor spaces are the highest risk for people infecting others with COVID (SARS-CoV-2). Many performers, crew, and venue staff are either on long-term sick leave with Long COVID, or no longer working due to the high risk of reinfection. To reduce infections, London theatres are upgrading their ventilation systems. Modelling by aerosol scientists has demonstrated that layered mitigations, such as HEPA filtration and masking, are the most effective for protecting people in indoor spaces."Protect the Heart of the Arts chose Macbeth for the mask hand-out because it was first performed in 1606, when an outbreak of plague closed London theatres for eight months.A spokesperson for the group, Daniel Cailleach, said: "In Shakespeare's time, Macbeth expressed the trauma of plague-stricken England. Now it sounds the alarm on the Long COVID crisis in the Performing Arts:"Alas, poor country, almost afraid to know itself.
It cannot be called our mother, but our grave."
PRESS COVERAGE
PHOTOS
Mask hand-out at Donmar Warehouse theatre, 16 December 2023
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