Omicron wreaks havoc on TV screens with dozens of new pluses and delays

Hollywood thought it had entered the new normal after the emergence of the Covid vaccines and after security measures were implemented on filming to prevent the spread of the virus. But the omicron variant turns things upside down again. In the past 48 hours, four series have had to stop or delay planned filming due to too many positives among team members.

The string in question is Navy: Criminal Investigation, NCIS: LA, Chicago Fire s Star Trek Piccard. in case if PiccardFor example, we will talk about dozens of members of a 450-person team, including behind-the-scenes workers and important actors. It is unknown when filming for the third season could resume, though portals like Delivery time They ruled out that one of those affected is Patrick Stewart, the 81-year-old actor who stars in the series.

Star Trek Picard has a team of 450 people, dozens of whom have contracted the coronavirus in recent days

Another production characterized by the proliferation of positives is Chicago fireWhich closed the group on January 5 after also finding cases in front of and behind the cameras, making it impossible to operate normally. The Dick Wolf series was one of those that had previously resumed filming after the Christmas holidays in the midst of an audiovisual context in which many producers preferred to delay the start of filming for a few days to apply supplemental testing to workers, realizing that the omicron variant was wreaking havoc on the health of the global population.

and while NCIS He was paralyzed after a positive result on the set, NCIS: LA It won’t launch live until February: US CBS has enough episodes filmed in the bedroom and ready to broadcast to risk resuming action amid a flurry of positives.

Read also

Maria Romero Medina

So far, the new structure used in the imaging has avoided further delays in the industry. In addition to the multiple tests frequently performed on equipment, ventilation equipment and shutdowns during the day to ensure said ventilation, imaging was divided into zones. Representatives, for example, were part of A and only a select group of workers could contact them. The scale was there because filming might have to be stopped entirely with positivity from the lead actor.

New productions are expected to be announced in the coming days, paralyzed by an increase in omicron cases. At the moment, the first to be hurt is the series that is broadcast on free channels: since its filming is very close to the date of broadcasting, they are under more pressure not to experience delays and leave the channels in limbo without original content.

The open series are the hardest hit: their filming is closer to the broadcast date, so they have more pressure not to experience delays