Clare Crawley's Bachelorette Season Postponed Due to Coronavirus: Source
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The rapid spread of the coronavirus continues to affect industries around the world, including production on several TV shows and movies.
A production source tells PEOPLE that Clare Crawley‘s season of The Bachelorette was scheduled to begin shooting on Thursday, but has now been pushed back as the team runs into location issues due to public spaces closing amid the pandemic. The season had been set to premiere May 18 on ABC.
Warner Brothers released the following statement Friday, confirming a production delay: “With the rapidly changing events related to COVID-19, and out of an abundance of caution, Warner Bros. Television Group is halting production on some of our 70+ series and pilots currently filming or about to begin. There have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 on any of our productions, but the health and safety of our employees, casts and crews remains our top priority. During this time, we will continue to follow the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control as well as local officials and public health professionals in each city where our productions are based.”
Chris Harrison told PEOPLE earlier this week that the pandemic is “100 percent affecting” production.
“I mean, Clare’s season is about to get under production and we’ve already nixed all international travel,” the host, 48, said at the launch of his Seagram’s Escapes Tropical Rosé in L.A. on Wednesday. “Clearly, you can’t. We’re going to keep it domestic. We might even have to keep it in Los Angeles when it’s all said and done. Who knows?”
“Everything is changing by the hour with this, not even by the day,” he continued. “And so we just have to react, keeping everybody safe.”
According to Harrison, production installed several hand-washing stations on set, as well as a clinic with a doctor on hand “in case anything springs up.”
“We’re on it,” he said. “We’re being vigilant, we’re being smart, we’re doing everything we can, just like you should be doing at home.”
Bachelor in Paradise and The Bachelor Summer Games could also be impacted.
“Everything is on the table now,” Harrison said. “I mean, in June, we’re supposed to be in Mexico. Summer Games, you know, we bring people in from all over the world. Clearly, that’s probably not going to be a possibility the way things are going. So honestly, everything is up in the air right now. And you can’t bitch and moan about it, you’ve just got to roll with it and do what’s smart.”
The latest statement from Warner Bros. on Wednesday said that travel plans for The Bachelorette would be evaluated on a “case-by-case basis.”
The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic on Wednesday, urging world leaders and citizens to take action to help stop the spread.
Donald Trump is set to declare an emergency over the pandemic, Bloomberg reports. The president, 73, tweeted Friday morning that he will hold a news conference in the afternoon.
According to Bloomberg, Trump would declare an emergency under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, better known as the Stafford Act. Such a declaration would unlock about $42 billion in relief funds through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to support state and local governments.
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