Since the beginning of 2022, the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has continued to wreak havoc across the entertainment industry, with Star Trek: Picard and The Late, Late Show with James Corden being two of the latest to halt production as the number of positive Covid cases increases to unmanageable levels on set. On the same day that L.A. recorded a record 10,000 new Covid cases, the news of the two shut-downs came in the same week that Sony delayed the release of Marvel movie Morbius, the Grammy Awards were postponed and several premieres and red carpet events were either canceled or delayed indefinitely.

Paramount+ series Star Trek: Picard brought production to a halt today, with the Patrick Stewart-led series suffering the effects of the pandemic yet again. The series has been hit by multiple Covid delays, with the second season hitting its first crisis around the same time the first season aired. Filming was scheduled to be completed in 2020, but waves of lockdowns meant that the series entered a considerable hiatus that did not end until last year. While the new episodes are expected to arrive on Paramount+ in February, work on the third season is already underway. Or at least it was.

After believing that they had seen off the worst delays, Star Trek: Picard was given a substantial reminder of just how disruptive the pandemic still is after a new outbreak of the virus on set has resulted in more than 50 members of cast and crew testing positive and being forced to isolate as per current guidelines. While Stewart is not one of those infected, the numbers are substantial enough to halt production of the show for the rest of this week, and although, hopefully, next week will see the cameras rolling again, the exact details of whether this will indeed happen are at the moment unavailable.

In addition to this, The Late Late Show With James Corden has also been forced off-air until January 18th as its host contracted the virus and has been forced into isolation. Corden, who is the second late-night host this week to be sidelined by a positive test along with Seth Meyers, said that he currently feels fine having been vaccinated and boosted, and his isolation is for preventative measures to ensure he doesn’t spread the virus.

The Widespread Disruptive Impact of Covid Is Being Felt Across The Entertainment Industry.

Star Trek: Picard and The Late Late Show are the latest in a long line of shows being postponed as the pandemic numbers continue to increase in the first weeks of the year. In the name of caution, ABC this week stopped filming on a number of their biggest series, including Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19 and The Rookie. This news comes just a day after Chicago Fire and NCIS paused their shooting schedules to allow cast and crew to isolate. While case numbers show no signs of abating, it seems that 2022 is going to feel like Groundhog Day all over again for an industry that thought the worst of the disruption was behind it.