The Covid safety protocols in Hollywood have been extended till February 13th. In the interim, the industry's unions have encouraged studios to improve testing and upgrade personal protective equipment in response to the rise of the Omicron version, and most have done so until new norms can be approved.
An agreement between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and Hollywood's unions, the DGA, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, Teamsters, and the Basic Crafts, established the film and television industry's protocols in September 2020.
The return-to-work protocols, which have allowed jobs and productions to recover during the pandemic, were originally set to expire on April 30, 2021, but were extended with no major changes and included all of the original agreement's provisions, such as strict testing regimens, physical distancing, Covid compliance officers, diligent use of personal protective equipment, and a "Zone" system to ensure that different sections of productions are tightly separated.
The protocols were amended last July to give producers "the option to implement mandatory vaccination policies for casts and crew in Zone A on a production-by-production basis" after vaccines became widely available. Zone A, where unmasked actors work, is the most restrictive of the safe work zones on sets.
The procedures, which were set to expire again on October 31, were extended until January 15 with all of the same requirements for testing, masking, quarantining, and immunizations, which were "compatible with current CDC guidelines."
On December 27, the CDC shortened its quarantining recommendations for people with Covid from 10 days to five days “if they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are resolving without fever for 24 hours, followed by five days of wearing a mask when around others to minimize the risk of infecting people they encounter.” The CDC said the change was “motivated by science demonstrating that the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and the 2-3 days after.”
