'The Flash' halts filming after positive coronavirus case

Grant Gustin as Barry Allen in ’The Flash’. Picture: Jack Rowand/The CW.

Grant Gustin as Barry Allen in ’The Flash’. Picture: Jack Rowand/The CW.

Published Nov 30, 2020

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Production has been suspended on The Flash season seven after a team member tested positive for coronavirus after undergoing routine screening.

The unnamed person working on the TV series had no symptoms of the virus but was discovered to have contracted it as part of the rigorous testing regime introduced by Warner Bros. TV for all of their production employees.

According to Deadline, "out of an abundance of caution", filming has been temporarily halted and contact tracing has been initiated.

The studio are currently looking to amend the production schedule in order to resume filming without the affected employee and their close contacts, who are self-isolating.

The superhero series – which stars Grant Gustin as Barry Allen and his titular alter ego – has already suffered due to the pandemic as in March, production was shut down, meaning the sixth season had 19 episodes, instead of the original 22.

The CW then had to postpone the season finale because the virus had affected the crew's ability to finish post-production on the episode.

And Gustin previously admitted season seven was the last he was contracted for and the global health crisis had meant talks on extending his deal for an additional two series had stalled.

He said: "The conversations actually had started already for adding a potential eighth and ninth [season], but then this pandemic happened, and everything has stopped.

“We don’t know when we’re back, and I don’t know when we’re going to continue the renegotiation talks.”

The actor also admitted he's been forced to turn down other roles because of his commitment to the show.

He said: "There are plenty of things I feel I missed out on. The Flash has been so amazing, but we’re six years in now and the past four [summer] hiatuses I have had a project that has fallen through because of Flash.

“There are a lot of opportunities that have gone away because of schedule conflicts. You just can’t have everything.”

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