Crew Member on 'Strictly Come Dancing' Tests Positive For COVID-19
Television and film productions all over the world are still struggling to adapt to the new normal that the global coronavirus pandemic has brought. Productions often need to make quick adjustments when staff members test is positive for COVID-19, such as with Strictly Come Dancing.
The Mirror reports that the latest season of Strictly Come Dancing has been gripped by uncertainty as there have been reports that one of the television show’s crew members has tested positive for the coronavirus.
The BBC has already responded to the reports, insisting that the crew member was already done working on the current season of Strictly Come Dancing when he tested positive for the coronavirus. The BBC also says that the National Health Service had certified that the crew members were negative.
Whatever the case may be, The Sun reports that the news has also spread among the professional dancers on the show. Quoting a source, The Sun says that dozens of workers had been in contact with the COVID-19 positive crew member and that he was present during the shooting of the professional group dances.
The source also went on to say that this was the worst thing that could happen to the production, as it is very costly to suddenly stop filming in the middle of the process. The crew was, reportedly, sent home after the positive diagnosis was discovered and the studio was cleaned with electrostatic sprayers.
Professional dancers for the show, on the other hand, have been staying in a nearby hotel that has been deemed “biosecure.” Heads of the production are looking to restart production on Tuesday so as to avoid further delays.
This is the latest setback the show has suffered because of the global coronavirus pandemic. Even before production began, it was already decided that the number of episodes for this current season would be reduced to nine rather than the usual 12 episodes.
While the United Kingdom is slowly reopening, the coronavirus is still very much an issue in the country. At the most recent update, there are now more or less 347,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country. The number of people that have died from COVID-19 in the United Kingdom is at 41,551.
The numbers elsewhere in the world are not encouraging either. According to the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 dashboard for Sept. 6, there are now 26,763,217 people worldwide that are confirmed to have COVID-19. Globally, 876,616 people have died from COVID-19.