'Dancing with the Stars' reports multiple cases of COVID-19 following premiere

ABC

Dancing wasn't the only thing that broke out at Monday's Dancing with the Stars season 31 premiere: at least four cases of COVID-19 were reported among the show's crew following its debut on Disney+.

A DWTS spokesperson told Deadline that all four crew members work in “completely different departments that do not have in-person contact with each other, based on our pod system.”

“Contact tracing was immediately conducted,” the spokesperson continued. “All close contacts were notified and put on an increased testing cadence" and that "no close contact of the four positive production employees has since tested positive.”

The spokesperson adds that the “entire set has been disinfected as an extra precaution," and the majority of the show's employees -- which totals more than 300 -- were asked to work from home.”

Earlier reports put the number of positive cases at more than a dozen, but the spokesperson claims that number was incorrect.

The show was cleared by the Department of Public Health to continue production “based on our strict safety protocols,” the spokesperson added.

Dancing with the Stars returns next Monday at 8 p.m. ET on Disney+

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Friday, September 23, 2022 at 8:30AM by George Costantino Permalink