The Return to Work Agreement, which outlines the COVID-19 safety protocols on film and television productions, has been extended by Hollywood studios and unions through Sept. 30 ahead of its scheduled expiration date on Friday.
Since the agreement first went into effect in September 2020, Hollywood unions have met every two to three months with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to revise and renew the guidelines as needed. This past May, the two sides added new provisions allowing for testing and safety protocols to be relaxed for productions shooting in areas where COVID-19 infection rates were low.
But this latest renewal comes as the BA.5 subvariant of the virus has caused infection rates to significantly increase in Los Angeles as well as throughout much of the country. Over the past two months, outbreaks have been reported at studios like Lionsgate and Universal, and earlier this week Warner Bros. reported 43 confirmed cases among its employees at its Burbank backlot to L.A. County health officials.
Los Angeles County health director Barbara Ferrer says that her department may reinstate mask requirements at all businesses as early as July 29 as the county’s infection rate is set to reach “high” levels of transmission as defined by the Center for Disease Control. If the county remains in the “high” level for more than two weeks, the mask mandate will go into effect.
Masking on sets, however, is already mandated at current L.A. infection rates per the Return to Work Agreement, which in general has stricter protocols than public health orders.
TheWrap has reached out to AMPTP for further comment. The protocol extension was first reported by The Los Angeles Times.