NBC Pulls Al Roker and Craig Melvin Off Air After ‘Today’ Show Staffer Tests Positive for Covid-19

NBC has pulled Al Roker and Craig Melvin from the airwaves on Monday after a staffer for the third hour of the Today show tested positive for Coronavirus. The person has not been named and NBC president Noah Oppenheim told staff he was being treated for ‘mild symptoms’.

NBC is now trying to trace the staffer’s movements and interactions he may have had with others at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. All members of the Today show’s third-hour editorial team will work from home but the show itself will go on as normal.

The Today show’s Savannah Guthrie announced at the beginning of the show that Roker and Melvin ‘have taken the morning off so we can trace their contacts, see what’s going on with them’.

“We promise to keep you posted… They feel good. Caution is the order of the day,” she said.

We learned late last night a colleague on the 3rd hour of TODAY tested positive for COVID-19.

Out of an abundance of caution, Craig and Al are taking the morning off while we map that colleague’s close contacts. pic.twitter.com/aVHJpMU1Fj

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 16, 2020

“We’re just trying to play exactly by the rules. We hope and wish that they come back soon,” co-host Hoda Kotb said.

Oppenheim told employees that NBC was prioritizing their health: “We want to continue to assure you that your health and safety are our top priority, and remind you that NBCUniversal’s experienced team of medical professionals and crisis-management experts is in constant communication with authorities, and are continuously assessing the best and safest practices for all of us.”