Hollywood Suffers From Delta Variant Setbacks
Film and TV productions in Hollywood are entering a new COVID-19 challenge with the arrival of the Delta variant in L.A.
Hollywood faces a new pandemic-caused challenge as the Delta variant infests the streets of L.A., the housing county of the “Dream Machine.”
Despite the safety protocols that have been established to protect the industry workers from COVID-19 infections, the arrival of the Delta variant has set the industry back. Reports of several TV shows and films halting productions amidst onset virus outbreaks have caused panic in Hollywood, notably as the industry is still adapting to strict shooting regulations imposed to prevent similar occurrences.
The report lists the HBO Max made-for-TV movie “House Party,” Fox’s “The Masked Singer” and CBS’ “S.W.A.T” among the productions that had active outbreaks.
While “S.W.A.T” only registered five cases to this date, Fox’s singing show had reported 12 cases, yet surprisingly, did not pause production. On the other hand, “House Party” recorded 9 infections, which eventually pushed the production to halt for a few days.
Hollywood's Safety Protocols
Strict safety protocols have become a new mandate for the film business since shooting on various productions has resumed in limited capacities in June 2020.
This comes as the industry is reeling back from massive financial blows it suffered from, during the first and second waves of the pandemic, as it reportedly halted most of the productions and lost about $17 billion with films massively underperforming at the box office.
After cinemas were closed down temporarily, certain studios have opted to postpone their films’ releases to cut losses or adopt a different release method.
Many industry professionals were furloughed in the process, creating a spike in the industry’s unemployment rate during one of the roughest economic periods the world is witnessing.
In an effort to combat last year’s stagnation, film productions came back in full force this month, with a larger number of on-set productions days being recorded compared to the same pre-pandemic period in 2019.
This effort comes amidst new safety regulations imposed by a large number of major production companies, including Walt Disney, Netflix, and Amazon, which require vaccination of key cast and crew members as a prerequisite for working onset.