‘Batwoman’ And ‘Riverdale’ Resume Production
by Erik Amaya
Despite getting caught up in a COVID-19 testing bottleneck, Batwoman and Riverdale are expected to resume production later today.
According to Deadline, the two shows are the first of Warner Bros. Television’s Vancouver-bases series to get back to work after a serious logjam of required COVID-19 tests forced many television shows to temporarily halt filming last week. The pause also delayed start dates for The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl. The testing is part of city’s attempts to keep production alive in the surrounding area even as COVID-19 continues on without a viable vaccine or reasonable treatment. And, as such, a lot of swabs are making their way to facilities attempting to process results as fast as possible.
Another reason for the delay, according to the site, is an attempt to process test results for school-aged children as British Columbia attempts to restart its education system. Additionally, the province was only testing a handful of people in the summer compared to the frequency required for film production safety standards and were simply not prepared for the volume. Actors are being tested every three days while crew in close contact with talent are tested weekly. Multiply that by the number of productions in the Vancouver area and it quickly becomes a surprising large amount.
More delays are likely as the city and province attempt to get facilities online to process the mountain of tests required for film crews. Unfortunately, the delays may create a feedback loop as old samples are discarded and new swabs must be collected. Hopefully, the process will smooth out and the shows can film on a steady basis.
