Tyler Perry Reveals That 4 People From 2 Of His Shows Have Tested Positive For COVID-19

Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry Reveals That Four People From Two Of His Shows Have Tested Positive For COVID-19

As the only major production company to begin resuming shooting, Tyler Perry Studios, have left many wondering if that idea was worth the risk or a mistake. Tyler Perry recently opened up about how he has managed to shoot his series during a global pandemic. In the discussion, Tyler Perry revealed that four people have already tested positive for COVID-19.

He said:

“We had a couple of concerns. We had four positives.”

He then explained:

“We had 160 people check in the first day, go to their rooms, get tested and wait for their results. Nobody was able to leave their rooms. We had two positives in that. So we had them escorted out and got the help that they needed.”

Afterwards he says that,

“200 people checked in [soon after] and we had two positive inside of the 200. We had them escorted out and got them the help that they needed. So we had four before anybody left their rooms, before anybody started work. Those rooms were kept closed and off limits to anybody until after we finished shooting.”

Tyler Perry was initially set to begin shooting his next series, The Oval, tomorrow, but due to several cast members testing positive for COVID-19, the director may have to push production back. He mentioned:

“Unfortunately I have two cast members that have tested positive. They’re reoccurring. So I’m trying to figure out, what do I do? Do I add two days of shooting to the end of the other shows that I’m working on to give them time to be negative? But they’re asymptomatic. So I’m just waiting to see what the best way to do that is. But everything will flow just as Sistas did.”

When asked if the two cast members of The Oval that have tested positive were in Atlanta, Perry responded:

“No, one person is in North Carolina and the other person is in Atlanta, so they wouldn’t be on a plane flying in. So we’re just waiting. We need two negative tests before they can come back to work.”

We previously reported the cast of Tyler Perry’s ‘Sistas‘ series is return to filming.

Actor Devale Ellis, gave fans a rundown of the precautions being taken due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The actor took to his Instagram stories to share that Tyler Perry has housed the cast members separately, saying:

“All of us got our own rooms in the crib. There’s two people to a house.  Tyler was very, like, keen on everybody being diligent and vigilant with staying away from each other in between takes, and while we’re in quarantine. So, we got our own space.  We got our own bathrooms.”

Devale Ellis continued:

“The reason why I’m showing y’all this is because I want y’all to see how important it is that we continue to protect each other as people.  You know, it may be a little more difficult to do things because you gotta wear a mask everywhere you go, you gotta separate, you can’t mingle.  But, it’s just important for us, while we try to get back to some sort of normalcy, we take every necessary measure to protect each other and our families.”

Sistas Actor Devale Ellis dished on the cast resuming filming this week amidst pandemic (@tylerperry @SistasOnBET @iamdevale) pic.twitter.com/woQvw7g2Wg

— theJasmineBRAND (@thejasminebrand) July 16, 2020

Earlier this year, Tyler Perry shared his precautionary plans of reopening his studio.

“We’ll still be wearing masks. We cut our crew size down drastically. What we do when we’re doing intimate scenes, it’s called a closed set, which means a bare minimum of people on set. So that is what we’ll be doing for every setup.”

He’s also willing to do without super intimate scenes right away, like in most of his productions,

“I think it has to go away unless there’s adequate testing. And the testing that we’re using through Dr. Del Rio of Emory has a 98% accuracy rate. We wouldn’t just run in immediately and start shooting scenes where I’ve got four women in close contact with each other like [on] ’Sistas.’ It would be after our fourth day, when we test again, that we would get into some of those scenes.”

What are your thoughts about filming during the pandemic? Leave your comments with us.