GENERAL HOSPITAL Postpones Production Due to COVID Surge

The latest surge of COVID cases caused by the Omicron variant has caused numerous shutdowns, and now that includes GENERAL HOSPITAL. The soap is just one of many ABC television productions that are postponing resuming production in the new year, according to TV Line. Thankfully, the delay is currently slated to be very temporary.

In addition to GH, primetime series GREY’S ANATOMY, STATION 19, and THE ROOKIE are also putting their productions on hold. Instead of returning to work this week as previously planned, the shows are expected to instead resume production next week.

GH actress Kirsten Storms (Maxie) recently revealed that she had tested positive for COVID, but according to sources, this decision was made out of an abundance of caution and not due to any specific incidents of COVID outbreaks on the sets of any of the shows. ABC/Disney also has enacted a vaccine mandate requiring the cast and crew of their productions to be vaccinated for their own safety during this ongoing pandemic. This led to actors Steve Burton and Ingo Rademacher being let go from the soap.

Back in March 2020, when the coronavirus began spreading around the world, GH and the other daytime soaps shut down production to keep their casts and crews safe. When the shows ran out of episodes, they all began airing encore episodes until they could resume production. (Except for DAYS OF OUR LIVES, which had enough episodes to last throughout the production hiatus.)

Given that GH tapes approximately one month in advance, there should be enough episodes in the can so that viewers won’t experience any interruption to the drama on screen. That is if they can resume production next week as planned. Keep checking back here at SoapsInDepth.com for the latest updates on this developing story.