‘Today’ Alters Production Plans As Al Roker, Craig Melvin Self Isolate After Staffer Tests Positive For Coronavirus



Al Roker and Craig Melvin will continue to self isolate and remain at home, as Today adapts its production plans after a staffer for the third hour of the show tested positive for the coronavirus.

On Tuesday, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb will co anchor from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., but the 9 a.m. third hour, hosted by Roker and Melvin, will air previously taped segments, according to a source. Guthrie and Kotb will anchor live news segments at the top of the hour, as they did on Monday.

The 10 a.m. fourth hour of Today, hosted by Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager, will air previously taped shows.

The in-studio staff of Today has been scaled back as the show takes social distancing precautions.

Roker’s self-isolation will not keep him off the air. He said in a Twitter post that he will be “coming to you live from my kitchen” for Today on Tuesday, with a tech support team setting him up to broadcast from there. He said that he was in a 15-day self isolation after a producer colleague tested positive for the virus.

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“Everybody’s fine here at the Roker household, and we will see you then,” he said.

Roker said that he has no symptoms. He also tweeted “thoughts and prayers for those suffering, health care professionals and first responders.”

NBC News President Noah Oppenheim said that they were “taking all necessary steps to ensure the health and safety of our teams, which includes multiple deep cleanings of our offices, control room and Studio 1A.”

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PREVIOUSLY: NBC’s Today show is the latest to be affected by the coronavirus.

An employee on the third hour of Today tested positive for COVID-19, co-host Savannah Guthrie told viewers this morning. She told viewers the network learned of the news overnight and co-hosts Craig Melvin and Al Roker took the morning off “out of an abundance of caution.”

“Both are fine right now, they feel good, but caution is the order of the day,” Guthrie said.

NBC News president Noah Oppenheim said in a statement on the show’s website that the staff member was experiencing “mild symptoms” and receiving treatment.

“We are fully supporting our colleague, who is experiencing mild symptoms and receiving medical care, and I know you join me in sending our very best for a quick recovery,” Oppenheim said.

The network is asking employees who came in contact with the affected staff to self-isolate.

The company is “taking all necessary steps to ensure the health and safety of our teams, which includes multiple deep cleanings of our offices, control room and Studio 1A [where the show is produced],” Oppenheim said

All editorial staff members on the third hour of Today were asked to work from home while NBC completed the social mapping exercise, the network said.

Guthrie and co-host Hoda Kotb appeared at the top of the third hour of Today, and again explained what had happened. “Things are different all day long, including the way we are sitting,” Guthrie told viewers at the top of the hour, noting how she and her co-host were spaced further apart.

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The show broadcast some previous segments, including an interview with Cheryl Hines of Curb Your Enthusiasm that ran on Feb. 3. But even that segment was interrupted by breaking news of the suspension of Wall Street trading as markets plunged shortly after they opened at 9:30 a.m. ET.

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