The Flash season seven production shut down after positive COVID test

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Not even The Flash can outrun the coronavirus. It has been announced that production on season seven of The Flash has paused temporarily due to a person working on the series testing positive for coronavirus.

Season seven of the Arrowverse series has been filming since earlier this fall, which is a bit later than usual because of the pause on shooting due to the pandemic. The CW pushed all of its returning Arrowverse shows to premiere in 2021 to accommodate for the delay but The Flash has been affected quite a bit by COVID-19. As is the case with many other TV shows, The Flash had to cut its previous season short, which resulted in a cliffhanger that should be resolved at the top of the new season. Additionally, the series' planned season seven start was affected by testing delays in Vancouver where many other CW shows are filmed.

"Deadline" was the first to report the news that an employee recently rested positive for COVID-19 which resulted in the production halt. The person in question was asymptomatic and the diagnosis came thanks to Warner Bros. TV's testing protocols. The show has begun contact tracing and is looking to restart production without the infected individual and anyone else in their circle. The show is being very quiet about who was actually infected but since production is trying to figure out if the show can continue filming without them or anyone in their circle, it makes me think it's someone pretty important to the show.

Since season seven of The Flash doesn't premiere until February 23, 2021, this pause in production likely won't affect the schedule too much and the series can still make its planned premiere date. The first episodes of season seven will resolve the remaining season six storylines and the plan is for The Flash to be a strong lead-in for the new Arrowverse show, Superman & Lois. 

The good thing is that testing protocols on film and TV sets have been very thorough and they can quickly catch a positive test result and act accordingly. Countless projects have paused filming temporarily since Hollywood returned to work this summer but most of them rebound fairly quickly from any positive test results. It's, unfortunately, the new normal for the industry and sadly this won't be the last positive COVID test result we hear about from any film or TV shows currently in production.

The Flash season seven premieres on Tuesday, February 23, 2021, on The CW.