NBC News says "Today" staffer tested positive for coronavirus
NBC News announced Monday that a staffer on the "Today" show who worked in the network's headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. The positive test led to two of the show's stars, Al Roker and Craig Melvin, spending the day off air as a precaution.
"Last night we learned a colleague of ours on the third hour of 'Today' has tested positive for COVID-19, the novel coronavirus," anchor Savannah Guthrie said on the show Monday morning. She said Roker and Melvin took the morning off "out of an abundance of caution."
Guthrie and fellow anchor Hoda Kotb sat six feet apart from each other during Monday's broadcast, in compliance with social distancing recommendations.
NBC News president Noah Oppenheim said in a statement that the staffer, who has not been publicly identified, is experiencing "mild symptoms" and receiving medical care. NBC said other employees who were in close proximity to the staffer will be asked to self-isolate. All staffers on the third hour of "Today" were asked to work from home Monday.
Roker and Melvin both tweeted assurances that they were feeling OK.
Feeling great this am. Thinking about our friend and colleague. Thinking about everyone grappling with this right now. I’ll be fine. So will we. https://t.co/SUOxmdLKPU
— Craig Melvin (@craigmelvin) March 16, 2020
Feeling fine. Don’t worry about us. Thinking about our colleagues and all those who are really suffering. And God Bless the health care providers and #FirstResponders helping https://t.co/dmfXg1Ves1
— Al Roker (@alroker) March 16, 2020
"Today" suspended live audiences last week due to coronavirus.
Like NBC, CBS News has also been directly affected by the outbreak. The network says six employees have now tested positive for COVID-19 — including Rome-based foreign correspondent Seth Doane, who joined "CBS This Morning" from isolation in his apartment on Monday to discuss his condition. Doane said his symptoms have been relatively mild and that he'd had "colds and flus" worse than what he's experiencing now.
NEW: CBS News correspondent @SethDoane has been diagnosed with COVID-19. Doane has decided to self-identify and is currently under quarantine in Rome.
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) March 16, 2020
Doane describes his experience from his home for @CBSThisMorning: pic.twitter.com/XWBl6wIMyV
The CBS News Broadcast Center in New York has been closed for cleaning since last week, after the first confirmed cases of employees in the building, and staff members have been working from home.