Film and TV production to resume in Los Angeles County after COVID-19 health order modification

The Hollywood sign

Hollywood is finally getting back to work, but it’s not clear just yet what that will mean for the production of individual shows. 

A piece from Deadline.com reports that Hollywood production could resume as early as today, June 12th, provided specific protocols are being followed. Those protocols, set by Los Angeles County, include health checks for employees, social distancing and infection control, and established procedures for employees either exhibiting symptoms of or testing positive for COVID-19.

Deadline’s piece follows a Wednesday announcement from L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. She said that the current health order that’s in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has been modified to allow specific sectors of the business community to reopen, including film and TV production. Museums, gyms, hotels and movies theatres are also among the group of businesses being allowed to reopen.

But will it stick? Deadline notes that the county was placed on a state watch list earlier this week, due to a rising trend in the COVID-19 transmission rate. If the county fails to make sufficient progress in limiting transmission, the State of California could take further action, including another stay-at-home mandate.

Back in March, over a thousand film and television productions shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Star Trek: Discovery and the upcoming animated series, Star Trek: Lower Decks were both able to continue production remotely, but Star Trek: Picard has been unable to progress beyond pre-production. CBS has not given any public updates on whether and when any of the three shows might resume normal operations.

Of course, until that content does arrive, you can catch up on past seasons of Star Trek, streaming now on CBS All Access.