Los Angeles Could Convert Hollywood Sound Stages Into Hospitals To Deal With COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 is starting to have a bigger impact on the United States than anyone ever expected, and the country now has more confirmed cases than even China. As a result, cities are having to take serious measures to try to keep the pandemic under control.

Now, Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti has told The Hollywood Reporter that the city is looking at all options when it comes to avoiding their hospital system from being overrun in the coming months. 

That could entail using unexpected locations as makeshift hospitals, including empty theaters and Hollywood soundstages. Representatives from movie studios have already reached out about making the latter available according to Garcetti, and they would be ideal as "sound stages have their own ventilation" and "they could be [used to hang] medical equipment."

It's obviously still early days, and this will more than likely be a last resort. However, in London, the ExCel centre (which normally houses events like film and comic book conventions) is already being used to treat COVID-19 patients, so it's entirely possible this will end up happening. 

Disney, Fox, Warner Bros., NBCUniversal Pictures, Sony and Paramount Pictures all have soundstages around Los Angeles, and they're all currently empty due to productions being put on hold. 

We'll keep you guys updated if we learn more!