Starz(NEW YORK) — During an appearance on Live with Kelly & Ryan Thursday,Sam Heughan answered the burning question on every Outlander fans’ minds: How will they film the show’s steamy love scenes with COVID-19 safety protocols?
“Yeah, I guess I’ve gotta now stay two meters apart from my costar, so that could provide some really interesting love scenes,” he said. “We’ll see.”
He assured that as far as he knows, there will still be love scenes between his character Jamie and Claire, played by Caitriona Balfe, in the upcoming sixth season of the Starz drama.
So far, shooting on season six hasn’t begun yet, but production will be starting again soon.
“I’ve been in a few times for costume fittings and yeah, it’s just we’re gonna have to adapt,” Heughan said. “You know, we’re gonna have to look at a new way of working around it. But we’re getting there, you know? So I’m excited. I’m excited to go back to work.”
In the meantime, Heughan and his Outlander co-star Graham McTavish have written a book that comes out November 3. It’s called Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other.
The book is a companion to Heughan and McTavish’s upcoming Scottish travel show, Men in Kilts.
Noel Vasquez/Getty Images for ExtraJay DeMarcus’ father Stanley Wayne DeMarcus has passed away.
The Rascal Flatts star turned to social media today to share the news that his father passed away this morning.
In a tribute post on Twitter, Jay calls the man affectionately known as “Wayno” his “musical hero” and attributes his father, who was at one time an aspiring musician, for teaching him how to play.
“He impacted everyone around him, and he was bigger than life to me. I could never explain in just a few words how important the musical bond was that we shared-it meant everything to me,” Jay writes alongside a collage of generation-spanning photos including one of the father and son when Jay was a teen and another of Stanley with Jay and his children, nine-year-old Madeline and eight-year-old Dylan.
“He taught me how to play, pushed me to be the best I could be, and I could not be more grateful for the time spent with him on the stage, and off,” the CMA Award winner continues. “Rest In Peace my precious Dad, I was always proud to be called your son, and I will miss you forever.”
Though he goes by Jay, the singer’s full name is Stanley Wayne DeMarcus, Jr. in honor of his father.
Courtesy of Follow Me Home(NEW YORK) — Actor Benjamin Bratt and his filmmaker brother Peter Bratthave enlisted their Follow Me Home cast members and their industry friends to have a candid conversation about their film nearly two decades after its release.
As part of a three-night event, which includes the rerelease of the film, the brothers are sparking dialogue about racial inequity, voting, and the current political climate. Peter tells ABC Audio that he never imagined his film would still be as impactful today.
“It was seen as kind of a radical, uncomfortable idea… 25 years ago and we didn’t really foresee this coming about,” he says. “But it really was after the murder of George Floyd that we started hearing from people across the country who had seen the film saying, ‘You have to bring this back. This is more relevant now than it was then.'”
Benjamin agrees, adding the film had the ability to broach difficult conversations then, as it does now.
“We yearn for a sense of belonging within a community, within a family, a connection with another individual,” he says. “That’s what it’s all about. And I think it’s important to underline that the conversation around racial equity has been largely a black and white issue. But the conversation we want to invoke involves everybody.”
While the film delves into deep and meaningful topics, it also offers plenty of levity through its dynamic and quirky characters. Benjamin jokes his brother initially thought he was “too pretty” for the role of Abel.
“The character I play, he’s a straight up hardcore ex-con homeboy. And when [Peter] wrote the role of [Abel], the last person he considered for it was me,” he says. “Even as his brother and co-producer on the film, I had to beg him for the part.”
Samara Heisz/iStockBy WILLIAM MANSELL and EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1.1 million people worldwide.
Over 44.6 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks. The criteria for diagnosis — through clinical means or a lab test — has also varied from country to country.
The United States is the worst-affected nation, with more than 8.8 million diagnosed cases and at least 227,968 deaths.
Nearly 200 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least 10 of which are in crucial phase three studies. Of those 10 potential vaccines in late-stage trials, there are currently five that will be available in the United States if approved.
Here’s how the news is developing Thursday. All times Eastern: Oct 29, 1:36 pm 1 boy likely responsible for more than 100 cases at retreat: CDC
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) case study released Thursday found that one ninth grade boy, who tested PCR negative before traveling, likely spread COVID-19 to over 100 people at a boys’ overnight summer school retreat in Wisconsin.
Among the 152 high school aged boys, counselors and staff members, there were 118 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 38 probable cases, the CDC said.
The tightly packed students, in session from July 2 to Aug. 11, didn’t wear masks and shared dorms with beds close together.
The ninth grade boy who likely set off the spread had a negative PCR test less than a week before the retreat, but he developed symptoms the day after arriving, according to the CDC. A family member of the boy tested positive while he was at the retreat.
In order to lower the risk in this type of setting, the CDC said it is critical to implement pre-arrival quarantine and testing, symptom monitoring, early identification and isolation of cases, mask use, distancing and enhanced hygiene and disinfection practices. ABC News’ Eric Strauss contributed to this report. Oct 29, 12:36 pm Hospitals full in Belgian city with 41% infection rate
Liege, Belgium, is emerging as an epicenter of Europe’s worsening coronavirus crisis.
In Liege, where there’s a roughly 41% infection rate, the local hospital is at full capacity. ICU numbers have tripled in the last three weeks.
A doctor told ABC News that health workers who have tested positive for COVID-19 are still treating patients to keep the hospital system from crashing. ABC News’ James Longman contributed to this report. Oct 29, 11:48 am New York City’s positivity rate ‘worrisome,’ mayor says
New York City’s positivity rate on Thursday jumped to 2.7%, “a worrisome number,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
“It is literally twice yesterday,” he said. “We cannot allow that number to keep growing. We really have to double down.”
The mayor said there’s no particular reason for the uptick. The city’s seven-day positivity rate average is 1.92%.
De Blasio repeated his message that “people really should not travel for the holidays unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“Unfortunately, pretty much everywhere is doing worse at fighting coronavirus,” he said. “And if you go someplace else, the chance of bringing it back with you is high.”
The mayor also warned New Yorkers to avoid large gatherings for Halloween.
“People want to trick or treat outdoors, small groups with masks on, that’s great. Big gatherings, parties, that’s not great at all,” he said, warning, “we find out about them, we are going to break them up.” ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
Oct 29, 9:24 am Hospitalizations in Oklahoma could triple by December: Officials
Officials in Oklahoma are warning that COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Sooner State could triple by the end of December if people don’t change their personal behaviors or if local ordinances are not enacted.
Projections from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation showed that if local mask and social distancing mandates don’t change, cases, hospitalizations and deaths will all increase in Oklahoma.
“We elected leaders to protect us, that’s one of their main responsibilities,” Dr. George Monks, president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association, told ABC News affiliate KTUL-TV in Tulsa. “To protect their citizens, you may upset a minority number of citizens in your district, but you’ve got to step up.”
If mandates are eased, those numbers could go up even more, officials said.
From Oct. 16-22, the number of cases in Oklahoma increased 20.2% and the week-over-week deaths increased 34.5%, according to the Oklahoma Department of Health.
Monks said IHME projects said the state would reach its maximum need of 2,711 beds for COVID patients on Dec. 28. It doesn’t have to be that way, he said, if everyone wore masks.
“It is projected we will reach our maximum number of new COVID-19 cases per day on 12/09/2020 at 5,005 cases/day,” Monks said on Twitter. “This number changes significantly if we implement universal masking.”
In Oklahoma, more than 119,000 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, with at least 1,286 deaths.
Oct 29, 9:21 am Vaccine effectiveness will be known by December, Fauci says
Researchers should know by December whether the vaccines in development are safe and effective, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“I can predict, I believe with some degree of certainty, that by the end of November to the beginning of December, we will know — based on the size of the trial and rate of infections that are ongoing in this country — if we will have a safe and effective vaccine,” Fauci said Wednesday in a virtual keynote address at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s COVID-19 research symposium.
Fauci added that he’s “cautiously optimistic that we will have a safe and effective vaccine even though you can never make absolute predictions.”
Oct 29, 8:30 am Tents set up at every hospital in El Paso
Hospitals in El Paso, Texas, are setting up tents to deal with the increase in COVID-19 patients as the U.S. sees a surge of new cases across the country.
All hospitals in the city, according to ABC News affiliate KVIA-TV, have now started to build tents as of Wednesday night.
“Our hospitals continue to implement our surge plans to expand capacity to help manage the influx of Covid-19 patients to meet the rapidly expanding needs of El Paso,” a Hospitals of Providence spokesperson told the station. “Medical tents will help decompress the Emergency Departments.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also announced on Wednesday that the El Paso Convention Center is being converted into a health care facility to expand hospital capacity in the area.
“The State of Texas is also providing local hospitals with auxiliary medical units, medical staffing, and medical equipment,” the Texas Division of Emergency Management said.
There were 845 new cases of COVID-29, which brings the city to at least 13,653 active cases as of Wednesday, according to local officials. There were three new deaths, which brings the death toll in El Paso to 583.
The seven-day rate of positivity in El Paso is 15.57%. There are 908 people currently hospitalized with coronavirus in the city, with 223 patients in ICUs and 111 on ventilators. There are 285 ICU beds in total in El Paso.
With the spike in cases in El Paso, city officials asked residents this week to largely stay at home: “For the next two weeks, we are asking you to please stay home unless for essential activities to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and prevent strain on our hospitals.”
In Texas, there have been more than 911,000 diagnosed cases since the pandemic began, with at least 18,162 deaths.
Jason Kempin/ACMA2020/Getty Images for ACMKane Brown can’t believe his daughter is one year old.
The hit country star commemorated daughter Kingsley‘s first birthday today with a sweet Instagrampost acknowledging the special day in a year when time is hard to grasp.
“I have a 1 year old wtf lol this year went way to fast as slow!! Happy birthday angel ?? my big girl!” Kane writes next to a photo of the baby in a pink Minnie Mouse sweatshirt and bow in her hair to match.
Kane previously shared that during her first year, Kingsley’s teeth have been coming in and she’s begun saying a few words, milestones he’s been able to witness as the COVID-19 pandemic has kept him off the touring circuit for most of the year.
Kingsley also makes an appearance in the video for her dad’s song “Worldwide Beautiful.”
Kane and his wife Katelyn recently celebrated their two-year wedding anniversary on October 12.
Starz(NEW YORK) — During an appearance on Live with Kelly & Ryan Thursday, Sam Heughan answered the burning question on every Outlander fans’ minds: How will they film the show’s steamy love scenes with COVID-19 safety protocols?
