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reassure themselves. Yet it also suggests that the key to getting entertainment venues full again
is for healthy people to be Covid-tested before going inside.

Confused? Join the club. The arts world is baffled: encouraged to get shows on and save

thousands of jobs, yet simultaneously told that its plans could be swept away at any time by new

restrictions imposed by the government.

To make squaring this circle even remotely possible, one boring problem needs solving:

insurance. The private sector won’t offer Covid cover without ruinously expensive premiums. If

the government said it would pick up the costs of cancelled shows during imposed local or
national lockdown, venues would feel more confident about reopening.

Yes, the government might then have to pay millions in claims. Yet the economic costs of
entertainment venues in our cities staying shut would be even larger — on balance, surely a risk

worth taking. To arrive at that conclusion, however, requires some joined-up thinking that seems

beyond this government’s capability.