Washington [US], July 1 : Crew members on film and TV productions shot in Los Angeles will now be required to wear masks indoors.
According to Variety, the public health officer of Los Angeles County, Barbara Ferrer, on Thursday made the announcement. She stated that the change was made due to increased hospitalizations in LA county due to COVID-19.
Ferrer said, "With new hospital admissions reaching more than 8 per week per 100,000 population, they will resume indoor masking requirements, along with several other safety measures."
As per Los Angeles' film and TV industry's current return to work agreement, if a metropolitan area or county reaches 8 or more new weekly COVID hospitalization admissions per 100,000 people over a seven-day interval, a threshold referred to as the 'Escalation Trigger', productions will require crew members to begin masking indoors.
This current return to work protocol agreement was first approved last May and is set to expire July 15. The seven-day average number of hospitalizations per 100,000 people has risen to 8.1, as per the public health data.
Ferrer in her media briefing had thanked the industry for working with labor partners to institute safe practices for workers on set, and for being stringent in their requirements for sets.
"This industry has worked closely with their labor partners to institute Covid safety measures that create safety for all workers while being able to continue the important work. We do applaud them along with many other businesses that are taking advantage of the many tools that are available to keep workers safe," Ferrer said, as per Variety. (ANI