LA Times is reporting what could be a huge issue for performers who need to travel to LA county for work. Now instead of just showing up, getting tested, and going right to work, you need to wait 10 days in lockdown before you can go out, get tested and start filming scenes.
As Los Angeles County continues to see an unprecedented wave of coronavirus cases, travelers returning to the region must quarantine.
Everyone who traveled out of the county is required to quarantine for 10 days upon return, the L.A. County Department of Public Health announced in a news release Monday. If a person begins to experience symptoms of the virus or tests positive, they should isolate for 10 days and until they are fever-free for 24 hours.
Individuals in quarantine should not leave their home or receive visitors, and should instead find others who can buy groceries or other essential items for them, according to the department.
“For those who traveled outside of L.A. County and recently returned, you may have had an exposure to COVID-19,” officials said. “The virus can take up to 14 days to incubate, and for many people, the virus causes no illness or symptoms. If you go back to work, go shopping or go to any gatherings at any point over the next 10 days, you could easily pass on the virus to others.”
The announcement did not indicate whether people who violate the requirement will be penalized. It was all-encompassing and didn’t specify any particular type of travel or distance traveled that would trigger a quarantine.
Last month, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that out-of-state travelers arriving in the city by air or train must sign a form acknowledging the state’s 14-day quarantine advisory.
The form, available at travel.lacity.org, acknowledges that anyone traveling to California from other states or countries should quarantine for 14 days and limit interactions to their immediate household. All travelers over the age of 16 must fill out the form before or upon their arrival by submitting their name and contact information.
San Francisco also issued its own travel order this month, requiring anyone visiting the city from outside the Bay Area to quarantine for 10 days. Violating the order is a misdemeanor.
The number of COVID-19 patients in L.A. County’s hospitals has been growing ever since late October. For the first time, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients on any single day exceeded 7,000, a milestone that occurred Sunday — and was 10 times greater than the number in early October, when fewer than 700 people were hospitalized.
As of Monday morning, there were only 54 available ICU beds across L.A. County, and half of them were for pediatric patients. Dr. Christina Ghaly, the L.A. County health services director, said that two-thirds of staffed ICU beds in L.A. County are filled with COVID-19 patients.
“All hospitals are experiencing this strain, but it’s especially more pronounced and more serious for some of the smaller hospitals,” Ghaly said. “Many hospitals have reached a crisis point and are having to make many tough decisions about patient care.”
Virtually all hospitals in the county are being forced to divert ambulances with certain types of patients for most of the day because they are too crowded. On Sunday, 94% of the county’s hospitals that take in 911 calls were diverting certain types of patients in ambulances away.
“But soon, there won’t be any places for these ambulances to go,” Ghaly said. “If every hospital is on diversion, then no hospital is on diversion.”
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If you plan on traveling to LA county you need to snag the form at travel.lacity.org.
Travelers over the age of 16 must submit this form online prior to or upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport, Van Nuys Airport, or Union Station. Failure to submit the form is punishable by a fine of up to $500.
For now, keep in mind “Essential travel” includes work and study. So you might be in the clear, but do they consider filming for adult movies “work”? That remains to be seen.
There is another snag that is more likely to screw adult film people. According to the covid19 (dot) ca (dot) gov site hotels and lodgings cannot accept or honor reservations for people coming into the area unless they are for:
Critical infrastructure (like the water supply or power grid)
Economic services (like banking)
Supply chains (like food distribution)
Health care and immediate medical care
Safety and security
Filmmaking isn’t listed. This could cause a problem as it is worded in a way that would preclude the various hostel facilities set up for adult film performers traveling into Los Angeles from outside the area. Even in counties not under a “stay at home order” (martial law) you can only stay in a hotel, Air B and B type reservation facility or hostel if you are reserved for a 14 day quarantine period and quarantine yourself in that hotel/hostel for that time — even though the recommendation to quarantine (mandatory for those traveling out of state and staying in a hotel/hostel) doesn’t apply to those that routinely travel out of state. This pretty much fucks LA area producers and directors as the talent can’t stay anywhere in town while they are in the area filming. Now people like Jacky St. James and Holly Randall are probably going to have to move production out of California (I haven’t discussed this with either of them but the writing is definitely on the wall), I predict that porn production is done in California. Producers and directors aren’t going to go to Nevada, experience less hassle, bureaucratic bullshit, not have the condom police on their asses and not have to pay talent as employees then voluntarily go back and work in Los Angeles (where they have to use condoms to even get a film permit — also not something required in most of Nevada) to produce and direct. Las Vegas and the surrounding area will likely become the new home for porn, maybe one of the outlying cities there will become the new Chatsworth (I think Henderson would be a good candidate if their city government goes along with it). I don’t think any area of Nevada is currently under martial law (this could change — do your own research) unlike all of the areas of the state commonly used for adult film production including both Los Angeles and the SF Bay Area.