ABC pauses production on 'Grey's Anatomy' and other shows amid COVID-19 surge

Jan 06, 2022

Washington [US], January 6 : ABC's hit-medical drama 'Grey's Anatomy', along with other series, have paused their production due to the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases.
According to E! News, it was reported on January 5 that there will be a delay in the restart of production on at least three Los Angeles-based television series including 'Grey's Anatomy', 'Station 19' and 'The Rookie', because of the Omicron variant COVID surge.
These series were set to resume production in the week of January 3, but are now rescheduled to begin in the week of January 10.
Reports suggest that this pause in production is out of precaution and not due to any cast-specific outbreak. While this is not the news TV fans were hoping to receive, the production pause is predicted not to impact any of the show's on-air schedules--as of right now.
Along with the three drama series, ABC's daytime soap opera, 'General Hospital', starring Maurice Benard and Rebecca Herbst, has also delayed its production start another week.
However, ABC isn't the only network pausing production this week. On January 4, NBC's 'Late Night With Seth Meyers' was canceled for the week after the show's host, Seth Meyers, tested positive for COVID-19.
"The bad news is, I tested positive for COVID (thanks, 2022!) the good news is, I feel fine (thanks vaccines and booster!) We are canceling the rest of the shows this week," the host shared in a tweet.
The production delay on 'Grey's Antomy' follows the news of Ellen Pompeo, who plays titular character, Meredith Grey, in the hit medical drama, revealing that she wants the series to end.
As per E! News, in an interview with Insider on December 18, the actor said, that after nearly two decades, she's "been trying to focus on convincing everybody that [Grey's Anatomy] should end."