A movie shoot at a Los Angeles landmark nearly temporarily shut down a coronavirus testing site, until city officials stepped in.
More than 500 people had appointments to be tested Tuesday at Union Station, according to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. However, they were notified by testing site operator Curative on Monday that the location would be closed due to an event, as first reported by Deadline.
News of the testing site’s closure quickly garnered backlash online, with many commenting that the location is one of the city’s most accessible testing sites.
Los Angeles County Public Health reported its highest-ever single day Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations on Tuesday, just one day after surpassing 400,000 total cases. The city went under a new stay-at-home order on Monday, as cases surge.
In a tweet, Garcetti said Monday night that the Union Station testing site would reopen. He did not mention the film shoot.
“The 504 Angelenos who were scheduled for a test there can visit the kiosk as originally planned or any of the other 14 City sites, where we offer 38K tests daily,” the mayor tweeted.
Curative, which runs the testing site, confirmed the location was up and running on Tuesday.
“To clarify any previous confusion, we are confirming the site will be open for normal operation today,” Curative said in a statement to CNN.
The film shoot went on as planned for a permitted film called ‘He’s All That,'” said Philip Sokoloski, a spokesman for FilmLA, which processes applications for film permits.
The movie is the remake of the 1999 rom-com “She’s All That,” which featured Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook. The shoot involves some exterior establishing shots and interior dialogue, with a total cast and crew size of around 170.
“FilmLA did not, and never would, seek the closure of a City-operated COVID-19 testing center to accommodate filming,” Sokoloski said. “Neither we, the City permit authority, nor the production company asked that this be done at Union Station.”
The organization said it first heard of the testing site closing on Monday night.
“FilmLA first learned of the testing site’s closure Monday evening, after community members reached out to express their concern,” Sokoloski said. “We were disappointed by what we learned, and immediately helped escalate the situation to City attention.”
