Union Station COVID-19 testing site to remain open despite film shoot

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Union Station in downtown Los Angeles had been slated to close its popular COVID-19 testing site on Tuesday because of a scheduled film shoot.

But Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the city has worked with the testing company and Metro to reopen testing as scheduled. There are 504 people scheduled to have tests taken there on Tuesday.

"We do want to apologize to anyone who might have received information that they couldn't test here today," said Deputy Mayor Jeff Gorell.

The downtown station is being used as a location for a feature film shoot on Tuesday, with more than 170 casts and crew shooting interior and exterior scenes.

The shoot was for "He's All That,'' a film inspired by the '90s romantic comedy "She's All That'' and featuring TikTok star Addison Rae, according to the L.A. Times, which cited the city and county's film office.

After the film permit was issued, the testing company initially decided to shut down its testing site for the day.

FilmLA issued the permit, but says it and the production team behind the shoot were not aware that Union Station was used as a COVID-19 testing site. The organization said it was not involved in the decision to close the testing site and the production company did not request the site be closed.

FilmLA says the production company reached out to the testing organization to see if accommodations could be made for both the film shoot and testing to occur. Just after midnight, Garcetti announced the site would remain open.

The mayor noted there are 14 testing sites in the city where some 38,000 tests are available every day. The city has administered more than 2.5 million free tests since the start of the pandemic.

Information about free testing in the city of Los Angeles is available here.