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NBC “Today Show” host Savannah Guthrie had to rush off the set of the program after she got some jarring news. It happened during Tuesday’s show when Guthrie was told that she had tested positive for COVID and had to leave the show, Today reported.
“By the way, it has been an interesting morning for us. As we said, Savannah left early, she wasn’t feeling great, so she took a COVID test,” Sheinelle said. “It came back positive. So, as soon as we found out, she rushed home to rest up. So Savannah, we love you, and wish you a speedy recovery.”
The Today Show reported: “The TODAY co-anchor previously tested positive for COVID in May 2022, resulting in her staying at home for five days to isolate. That was her second positive COVID test of the year. She called into TODAY from home at the time, saying she ‘just had a little cold.’ Savannah said she used the opportunity to get some sleep, do some reading, watch some TV, and get some cleaning and “organization projects” done. Savannah, who is vaccinated against the virus and received a booster shot, first tested positive for COVID in January 2022.”
This is the third positive test for Guthrie, who is fully vaccinated.
WATCH:
Savannah Guthrie had to leave the show this morning after testing positive for COVID-19 during the live TODAY broadcast. pic.twitter.com/6TYJlr0bs5
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) February 28, 2023
It comes as her fellow cohost Hoda Kotb has been missing from the show since February 17, People Magazine reported.
“Until Wednesday, her leave hasn’t been explained to viewers, Guthrie and company simply saying she was “out.’ Members from the Today family, including Craig Melvin and Sheinelle Jones, have been filling in beside Guthrie,” People reported.
“Guthrie herself had to step away while taping on Tuesday morning after testing positive for coronavirus,” the report said.
“Wednesday’s episode saw Melvin and Jones leading the show. At the 7:30 a.m. mark, Melvin provided more context into how Kotb and Guthrie were doing,” it said.
“We mentioned that Savannah and Hoda are both off. Savannah, she’s home after a positive COVID test yesterday. We are wishing our friend a speedy recovery,” Melvin said. “And as for Hoda, we know a lot of you have been wondering how she’s doing. We can tell you that Hoda’s okay. She’s got a family health matter that she’s been dealing with, so we look forward to seeing Hoda and Savannah back at the desk real, real soon.”
“We love you both,” Al Roker said.
The NBC network has had its share of news recently.
Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has a new job.
The woman who left the White House to become an analyst at MSNBC has now been promoted to anchor of a new Sunday show “Inside With Jen Psaki” set to premiere on March 19, The New York Times reported.
“Now she’ll take charge of an hourlong program on a Biden-friendly network, mixing policy and political discussions with lighter fare like human-interest profiles of politicians, celebrities, and athletes. (One of her dream guests: Joe Burrow, the quarterback of her husband’s hometown Cincinnati Bengals.),” the report said.
“Ms. Psaki, who began appearing on MSNBC as an analyst in September, is the latest in a line of White House communicators — including George Stephanopoulos, Diane Sawyer, and Dana Perino — who have left government for the more glamorous and better remunerated world of TV news,” it said.
“I am not going on television to be a mouthpiece,” Psaki, whose career has been centered on being a television mouthpiece, said.
“I’m very conscious of the fact that people know who I am because I was standing behind a podium speaking on behalf of Joe Biden,” she said.
“I am not going to gratuitously attack him, nor am I going to gratuitously applaud him,” the anchor said. “If he deserves applause, I will applaud him. If he deserves critique, I will critique him.”
As an example of what she would critique about President Biden, Psaki pointed to how the White House has handled his classified documents scandal.
“I certainly was critical of the way things were handled around the sharing of information about the documents,” she said, before quickly defending the White House.
“At the same time, there can be a tendency to make it into a five-alarm fire — like, everything is a disaster! My tendency is to provide context when needed,” she said.
