A second outbreak of COVID-19 has occurred at the Lionsgate TV-produced “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet” in less than two months.
Sixteen cases of coronavirus were recorded at CBS Studio Center’s Bungalow 3 in the first week of December, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, where the Lionsgate TV-produced series was set to wrap production this week. It is the largest outbreak of four such clusters in recent months at CBS’ Radford lot, which is quickly becoming ground zero for coronavirus cases on productions in Los Angeles.
According to a Lionsgate spokesperson, “Several team members of the Lionsgate-produced television series Mythic Quest have tested positive for COVID-19. They are currently in quarantine, and other staff members have been notified. We are following the extensive health and safety protocols we have in place, and production on the series has been suspended since last Friday when we learned of the positive tests. The health and safety of our ‘Mythic Quest’ team is our highest priority.”
The public health department also recorded seven cases at the CBS lot in Studio City, Calif.. but did not identify which sound stage or office space it impacted. That follows clusters of 11 and seven cases on Radford stages 4 and 14, respectively, which impacted “Mythic Quest,” as well as CBS Studios’ “Why Women Kill” and Sony Pictures TV’s “Call Your Mother” in mid-November. All had resumed production after brief pause, sources tell Variety.
That brings the number of cases recorded at Radford to a total of 41 over the last month or so. After the mid-November outbreak, “Mythic Quest,” which streams on Apple TV Plus, paused production for three days, according to a source close to the production.
CBS Radford is not the only studio lot or office to record coronavirus cases recently. NBC Universal Studios Stage 1 logged 11 cases, which related to a COVID-19 cluster at the “Kelly Clarkson Show,” per a person familiar with the matter. The daytime talk show is the sole user of Stage 1 on the Universal lot, and has remained in production. And Netflix recorded four cases among construction crew working on its Epic building; staffers at the streaming company were originally slated to move into the 13-story office building on Sunset Blvd in January, but are now not scheduled to move in until the spring of 2021, depending on the state of the pandemic.
Non-residential settings — a category that includes workplaces, restaurants and retailers — are required to report cases to the county if there is a cluster of at least three people who have tested positive for COVID-19.
Productions have come under heightened scrutiny as outdoor dining and other public facilities have been shut down in recent weeks. Film and TV productions adhere to a lengthy list of protocols established by the county, which includes frequent testing, mask mandates and heightened cleaning.