Does ‘General Hospital’ Have New Episodes? ABC Announces Return Following Production Shutdown

“General Hospital” fans won’t have to wait much longer to see new episodes return to ABC. On Thursday, the network announced its plan to begin airing new content in August.

ABC shut down the set of the long-running soap opera in March amid the coronavirus pandemic and began airing re-runs in May after running out of new content.

TVLine reported that the daytime series resumed production this week and will begin broadcasting new episodes starting on Monday, Aug. 3. However, when “General Hospital” returns, scenes may look a bit different compared to what fans are used to.

Bradley Bell, an executive producer on the CBS soap opera “The Bold and the Beautiful,” previously told The Hollywood Reporter that their show would be implementing strict safety guidelines to protect the cast and crew during filming. While it's unclear if "General Hospital" will follow suit, Bell revealed they planned to keep stars at least eight-feet apart while filming and edit scenes to make the actors appear closer together.

“We’re also bringing in, in some cases, the husbands and wives of the actors as stand-ins for their [characters'] significant others,” he said. “So if you see hands touching faces in close proximity from a wide shot, instead of a stunt double we’ll have a love-scene double, where it will be the husband or the wife doing the actual touching.”

Meanwhile, “GH” star Max Gail, who plays Mike Corbin, previously told SoapHub that he would be the last member of the cast to return to set. Due to his age, the 77-year-old has a higher risk of becoming severely ill from COVID-19.

When “GH” does return, fans can expect to see Nelle (Chloe Lanier) continue her plan to beat Michael (Chad Duell) in court and win full custody of Wiley (Erik and Theo Olson).

Jordan (Briana Nicole Henry) is also expected to reach out to Jason (Steve Burton) and form a plan that could help herself, and his relationship with Sam (Kelly Monaco).

“General Hospital” airs on weekdays at 3 p.m. EDT on ABC.