Actor Alex Medina stressed the importance of strictly abiding by COVID-19 health and safety protocols in production shoots after a fellow actor in the industry was accused of breaching it.
The actor on Wednesday aired his comments towards a news article reporting on Baguio City‘s decision to halt movie productions after Arjo Atayde left the city without waiting for the result of his RT-PCR test.
Arjo, who has been filming “Hey Joe” in the Summer Capital for nearly two months, left for Manila on Monday with his assistant without informing the local officials.
His swab test result came back positive for the virus. Nine other members of the production crew were also infected.
The rest of the crew were asked to isolate and were “well-guarded,” according to Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong.
The city chief said that they were allowed to shoot in the city, provided that they stay in a “bubble” or only within the city premises.
However, Magalong revealed that some of the crew has been going in and out of the city without passing through its triage system, which includes swab testing.
The city chief executive has already ordered an investigation into the incident.
READ: Baguio Mayor Magalong probes Arjo Atayde group over alleged protocol breach
On Wednesday, Feelmaking Productions Inc., Arjo’s production company, confirmed that the actor tested positive for COVID-19 last Monday. It said that the actor was rushed “straight to a hospital in Manila” the following day.
“Arjo was suffering from high fever, headaches, and difficulty in breathing. It was the mutual decision of Feelmaking Productions Inc., Arjo’s parents, and doctors to rush the actor, who has a pre-existing medical condition, straight to a hospital in Manila on August 17,” it said in a statement.
The company said that the Atayde family “has reached out to Mayor Benjamin Magalong” following the incident.
“We assure him and the people of Baguio that we will comply with our commitments to the City. We are grateful for the opportunity to shoot in their beautiful city and apologize for whatever inconvenience that this unfortunate incident may have caused,” it added.
Alex, who learned of the incident, noted the importance of following health and safety protocols when it comes to production shoots.
“I can’t stress enough how important it is that EVERYBODY in the production, staff, crew, actors to strictly follow protocols. I always am that guy who has to remind the production to remind everyone else of the quarantine before testing. And to always wear a mask. ALWAYS,” he wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
“Now this happens because some people don’t realize the severity of their actions by being careless. And it affects us all in the industry indirectly. If we want to survive, we all have to abide by the rules. Quarantine, test, don’t leave, finish shoot, product, get paid,” Alex added.
“Not to mention that this virus could be fatal. ‘Yun pa lang eh. Get well soon, Arjo. Edit: Some of the crew went out of the bubble while filming. A very, very fatal mistake,” he further said.
Alex is one of the sons of veteran actor Pen Medina and has appeared in several independent films and mainstream television series.