Los Angeles overturns decision to shut down virus testing site for film shoot



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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Tuesday morning that the city would reopen a coronavirus test site at Union Station, a major transit hub, after residents criticized the decision to temporarily close the site during a filming.

The movie “It’s All That”, which stars TikTok star Addison Rae and is a reboot of the 1999 romantic comedy “She’s All That”, had received approval to film inside and out. Outside the station on Tuesday, the city and county film bureau told me. About 170 members of the cast and crew were scheduled to take part in the film’s scenes, the film’s office said.

The reversal came after a homeless advocacy and awareness group called Ktown for All criticized the decision to shut down the site and shared a copy of an email he said a resident received on Monday afternoon of the company that operates the test site. He said all test appointments for Tuesday at the station have been canceled due to an event there.

The group said the move showed the city had misplaced its priorities at a time when hospitalizations for the virus were on the rise, and that the decision to shut the site for a day was making it more difficult for people who depend on public transport. common get tested.

“This is truly one of the only Covid testing centers in the city of Los Angeles that is truly accessible by public transportation,” Devon Manney, a spokesperson for the group, said in an interview Monday night. “This is the LA we are constantly fighting against.”

Philip Sokoloski, a spokesperson for the office of the film, known as FilmLA, said on Monday evening that neither the office nor the production company’s venues team knew the station was one of the venues. city ​​virus test and were not involved. in the decision to close the site.

Union Station is one of the city’s 10 permanent test sites and five pop-up locations, including one at the North Hollywood subway station which is on the same rapid transit line as Union Station. City officials did not say who made the decision to suspend testing at Union Station.

In a tweet, Mr Garcetti said the 504 people who were scheduled to be tested at Union Station on Tuesday could visit the site as scheduled. City officials said about 350 daily tests are performed on average at Union Station, which they said accounted for less than 1% of the more than 35,000 tests performed each day in Los Angeles.

Miramax, who is releasing the film, declined to comment on Monday night.

Taylor Lorenz contributed reporting.



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