To say that we’re in the midst of another massive COVID outbreak would be a gross understatement. The highly virulent Omicron variant (not to be confused with Omarion) is responsible for approximately 75 percent of all new COVID infections, and the speed at which it spreads it wreaking havoc around the world, including in Hollywood. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, one of the latest major productions to be impacted by the coronavirus is Star Trek: Picard, which had to shut down production on Monday due to an on-set COVID outbreak.
Sources tell THR that on Monday, the production’s first day back following an extended Christmas break, more than 50 people involved in the series, including both cast and crew, tested positive for COVID. While that’s indeed a large number of people affected, Star Trek: Picard—a Paramount+ series that continues the journey of Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard—also employs one of television’s largest cast and crew, with more than 450 staffers.
Once the positive tests were reported, production shut down immediately. According to The Hollywood Reporter, producers are hoping to come back to work on Monday, though no official date has been confirmed.
As The Hollywood Reporter notes, “Picard films in Los Angeles, which recorded 26,754 new cases, 2,240 hospitalizations and 27 deaths on Jan. 5. In California, an average of 59,000 cases a day were reported from New Year’s Eve through Monday.”
CBS Studios declined to comment on THR’s story.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)