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NBC has decided to pull the upcoming episode of “New Amsterdam” about a flu pandemic that hits New York City out of respect for those battling the coronavirus outbreak.
The episode, originally titled “Pandemic” now renamed “Our Doors Are Always Open,” was supposed to air on April 7 but instead, the medical drama series will air reruns until its season finale on April 14.
“New Amsterdam” showrunner David Schulner supports the decision made by the network. “The world needs a lot less fiction right now, and a lot more facts,” he wrote in an essay for Deadline.
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“Sometimes, what the mirror reflects back is too horrifying to look at,” he described. “We shot a fictional pandemic episode right before a real pandemic hit. People are dying in real life. Do we really want to watch fake people die too?”
The episode will air at some point in the future.
Schulner also explained that, unfortunately, members of the cast and crew have tested positive for the coronavirus including Daniel Dae Kim, whose character was going to be introduced in this episode.
Pictured: (l-r) Anupam Kher as Dr. Vijay Kapoor, Jocko Sims as Dr. Floyd Reynolds on ‘New Amsterdam.’
(Zach Dilgard/NBC)
Kim revealed last week he had coronavirus but has been self-isolating from his family and feeling better after taking medicine.
The 51-year-old actor posted a new video on his Instagram account Sunday a week after announcing his diagnosis saying he felt “practically back to normal.”
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“I am happy to report that my progress has continued and I feel practically back to normal. I am lucky to be in the 80 percent of diagnosed cases that have not required hospitalization, that’s an important statistic,” he said.
Worldwide, the COVID-19 death toll climbed past 20,000, according to a running count kept by Johns Hopkins University. The number of dead in the U.S. topped 800, with more than 60,000 infections.
Residents from St. Joseph’s Senior Home are helped onto buses in Woodbridge, N.J., Wednesday, March 25, 2020. More than 90 residents of the nursing home are being transferred to a facility in Whippany after 24 tested positive for COVID-19, according to a spokeswoman for CareOne.
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York State alone accounted for more than 30,000 cases and close to 300 deaths, most of them in New York City.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, again pleading for help in dealing with the coming onslaught, attributed the cluster to the city’s role as a gateway to international travelers and the sheer density of its population, with 8.6 million people sharing subways, elevators, apartment buildings and offices.
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“Our closeness makes us vulnerable,” he said. “But it’s true that your greatest weakness is also your greatest strength. And our closeness is what makes us who we are. That is what New York is.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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