As “General Hospital” prepared for its Thanksgiving hiatus last week, executive producer Frank Valentini took to social media to thank the cast and crew for 17 straight weeks of no production shutdowns due to COVID-19.
On Saturday, November 21, Valentini tweeted a photo of himself behind-the-scenes wearing a “GH” retrofitted face mask with the caption, “17 Straight weeks of production w/no shutdown – thank you ‘GH’ Crew and Cast for keeping us safe and working!! A grateful, thankful week off awaits us all!” He included the hashtags #NoJinxPlease and #bestCrew.
Just a few days ago “The Bold and the Beautiful” was reported to have had a crew member test positive for COVID-19, forcing the soap to complete two day’s worth of taping into one day. In October, “Days of our Lives” shut down production for two weeks after a production staffer tested positive. Production resumed before the two-week period concluded, however, after heath and safety experts determined the show was safe to resume production following contact tracing, quarantines and multiple testing measures were followed.
“The Young and the Restless” reportedly had two crew members test positive earlier this month for COVID-19. It was determined that neither staffer’s positive result would cause the show to halt production during a week in which Deadline says the show was set to tape “a big family event scene featuring about 15 actors in close proximity.” In an email sent to the show’s production crew in response to the positive results, it was said that “contact tracing has been completed and those individuals who were in close contact with the affected individuals have been notified. The production will take steps to respect all affected workers’ privacy.”
Last week, actor Donny Boaz who portrays Chance Chancellor on “Y&R” announced he had tested positive for COVID-19 and self-quarantined. Boaz, who has since returned to work, was temporarily replaced on-screen by Justin Gaston, the real-life husband of Melissa Ordway who portrays Chance’s love interest Abby Newman on the soap. Gaston begins airing as Chance starting with this week’s episodes.