I’m a celebrity film crew Covid breach, Byron council considers revoking other approvals

Police will allege the woman, who was working on the Tweed set of I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! failed to check in to several locations and had a five-hour session at a local pub.

After a crew member working on a reality television set in the Tweed Valley tested positive for Covid-19, the mayor of a neighbouring shire is considering pulling approvals for the production company.

A woman who was working on the ITV Studios’ production of I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! in the Tweed Shire has been charged with breaching Covid-19 rules after she tested positive for Covid-19.

Police will allege she did not use a QR code to check into several businesses she visited in the Tweed and Byron shires.

She flew into Ballina Byron Gateway Airport from Sydney on Saturday and was infectious in the community between then and Monday, according to NSW Health.

Byron mayor Michael Lyon said a meeting between ITV and the council would be held on Wednesday afternoon to consider ed options to overturn Byron Shire Council’s approval for another reality show, Love Island, being filmed in the hinterland village of Federal by the same company.

ITV Studios have said strict Covid-19 protocols were in place, but Mr Lyon said they clearly weren’t adequate in preventing an employee from being infectious in the community.

NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant confirmed during a Wednesday press conference that an infected film worker had received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Authorities said the worker received a rapid antigen test before leaving Sydney and this returned a negative result.

A subsequent PCR test, which screens for the presence of a virus before symptoms appear, which returned a positive result.

Mr Lyon said the council had a split vote on whether to allow Love Island to film in the shire in the first place.

The Covid situation has placed the production company on thin ice in his eyes.

“It’s up to me to make sure that my community is safe,” Mr Lyon said.

“I feel like this group have had a chance.

“They must have known that person had just come up from Sydney.”

He said the shire was now facing a “trust issue” with ITV.

He was uncertain whether any extra precautions would satisfy him the risks were sufficiently mitigated.

“We’re having a meeting with them (today) … but I can’t see how I’m going to be able to look my community in the eye and say I can guarantee this is going to be okay,” he said.

“We’re having a Zoom meeting to hear them out.”

ITV Studios and a senior member of the production team have been approached for comment.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said during her Wednesday press conference the crew member who was Covid-positive “did the wrong thing”.

She said they held a valid exemption to travel to the region but police will allege her activities outside of the workplace were not permitted, including a five-hour stint at the popular Kingscliff Beach Hotel.