After only returning to the set a few weeks ago, the cast and crew of The River have been forced to stop production after a crew member tested positive for Covid-19.

Fans of the popular telenovela flooded the producers' TL with well wishes and encouragement after they released a statement explaining that they had to stop production for everyone's safety.

“After we received the news of the colleague testing positive, we immediately asked the cast and crew that came into contact with the member to go into self-isolation. They will soon avail themselves to health authorities for testing, in line with government directives,” read the statement.

On Twitter, the executive producer Phathu Makwarela thanked fans and industry mates for the messages of support for his team.

The production had only gone back to work at the beginning of last month, after level 5 of the national lockdown implemented to help curb the spread of Covid-19 forced all productions to shut down.

Phathu said in the statement that since they had gone back to work, “all necessary lockdown health guides were implemented on set”.

There is no word yet on when the cast and crew of The River will be able to return to work. However, the show's set has been closed for decontamination.

Read the full statement below.