Los Angeles film and TV productions now need to be masked indoors as Covid numbers hit “escalation trigger,” says Los Angeles official.

Updated with details and price: The Mask, Hollywood.

This is according to Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County Public Health Officer, and it also appears to be in line with the current film and television industry withdrawal agreement.

“As new admissions reach more than 8 per 100,000 residents per week, they will update construction mask requirements, along with various other safety measures,” Ferrer said today at a press conference for film and television production. Public health data show that, to date, the average number of 7-day hospitalizations per 100,000 inhabitants has risen to 8.1. However, some industry sources question whether the so-called “de-escalation” threshold has been reached.

Covid Los Angeles Alert: Prepare for “a significant broadcast in the coming weeks,” says the director of public health

back to work I accept The agreement between trade unions and film and TV producers, which was last updated in May and effectively loosened some protocols, says:

A facility must use Part I protocols in a metropolitan (or county if not metropolitan) area or province that meets the following metrics (hereafter “escalation triggers”): 8 or more new weekly COVID admissions. Admissions every 100,000 people at seven-day intervals (as reported by covidactnow.org for work done in the United States). This product will immediately apply Section I protocols if escalation activation is met starting May 1, 2022.

If a metropolitan area (or a county, if not a metropolitan area) or province, as applicable, meets an escalation trigger after May 1, 2022, products located in those areas must meet the masking requirements immediately. of Part I, but no later than 24 hours from the date of activation of the escalation and use the other protocols of Part I as soon as possible, but no later than seven (7) days after the day that triggered the escalation. encountered

The only problem is the “as reported by covidactnow.org” bit. Although Los Angeles County has a seven-day average of new hospitalizations of 8.1 per 100,000 residents, covidactnow.org has 7.3 per 100,000. This may mean that the product is not yet contractually required to have return skins. Or perhaps the Los Angeles County numbers are ahead of those on covidactnow.org, and once the data on that site is updated, it will also show that the escalation trigger has been satisfied.

Meanwhile, an industry source told Deadline today: “The estimate is that eight hospitalizations per 100,000 will occur this week, leading to increased demand for contracts contained in the industry’s return-to-work agreement. It’s not yet because it was just announced today. However, many studies have not completely loosened the masking, testing, and other requirements contained in program-by-program return-to-work protocols. So everyone will have to go back to stricter protocols if they haven’t already. “

Either way, the senior Los Angeles health official seemed confident that Hollywood would soon return to wearing masks, praising the move.

“This industry has worked closely with its business partners to implement Covid security measures that keep all workers safe and enable important work to continue,” said Ferrer. We appreciate them and the many other companies that make use of the many tools available to protect workers.

He also noted that the industry was tougher than the CDC.

They set a threshold for returning to closed circuit masks and set that threshold at 8 in 100,000 hospitals, which is slightly below the CDC threshold. So now that we’ve reached that threshold, they’re back to what they had before, what’s required within the building. Now they obviously have a lot of details on when, when [can] Take off your masks. “

Current return protocols expire on July 15th.