Updated: 5:08 p.m. (PDT) with a formal statement by the FSC.
LOS ANGELES — The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) has announced they have “learned of at least a dozen publicly unreported positive COVID-19 tests among talent and crew testing outside the PASS system, including some who had previously worked on set.”
The adult industry trade group reported this initially this morning at 11:43 a.m. via their Twitter account.
This is their statement via Twitter, here and here:
FSC has learned of at least a dozen publicly unreported positive COVID-19 tests among talent and crew testing outside the PASS system, including some who had previously worked on set. We have reason to believe there may be many more.
We are alarmed by the lack of transparency and the risk it creates for the adult industry. We are working to substantiate the data, and will follow up later today with more information. We reiterate that we do not believe it is safe to shoot at this time.
This is a developing story. XBIZ will continue reporting as more details become available.
Update: Here is the full text of today's formal statement by the FSC:
Today, FSC learned of at least a dozen positive tests for COVID-19 among talent and crew in the past few weeks, including a small number who had already resumed working. These tests were done outside the FSC PASS system, and were not reported to PASS or FSC directly by the lab or persons tested. The information was relayed to FSC confidentially, through individual reports from multiple sources which we believe to be accurate. We are attempting to confirm the numbers directly with the lab, but have not yet received a response.
While most of these tests were for performers who had not yet worked on a formal set, we have no information as to whether or not they had been in contact with other performers, either socially or through off-set content trades. As this was done outside of PASS, we do not know if contact tracing has been conducted, or to what extent. We do not yet know the geographic breakdown of the positive tests, nor do we know if the contacts of the infected performers and crew members are fully quarantining for 14 days, as recommended by the CDC.
In addition to the above, we have had one positive test within the PASS system, by a performer who had not worked on an adult set within the window of transmission. They were determined by doctors not to have had any potential exposures to other adult workers, and are currently in quarantine.
In the past several weeks, as state and local governments lifted restrictions on film production, we have repeatedly warned our members that we do not believe it is yet safe to shoot. Additionally, as many PASS clinics have not yet been able to incorporate testing for COVID-19, and labs that do have so far declined to share those tests with the larger community, there is a potentially outsized risk. Given the limited amount of production that has resumed, even a small number of tests could represent a significant infection rate in the production pool.
We are not currently calling for a formal production hold, but are investigating the situation, and will advise the community as we learn more. If you are a performer or crew member who has tested positive for COVID-19, we ask that you contact FSC to help assist with risk assessment and contact tracing. Your information will be kept confidential.
