The Perfect Enemy | Savannah Guthrie leaves ‘Today’ in the middle of the show after testing positive for COVID-19 - USA TODAY
May 13, 2024

Savannah Guthrie leaves ‘Today’ in the middle of the show after testing positive for COVID-19 – USA TODAY

Savannah Guthrie leaves ‘Today’ in the middle of the show after testing positive for COVID-19  USA TODAYView Full Coverage on Google News

Everyone has their sick days, but “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s began in the middle of her workday.

Guthrie abruptly left the set of the morning show Tuesday after receiving results of a positive COVID-19 test, co-hosts Sheinelle Jones, Al Roker and Carson Daly told viewers.

“It has been an interesting morning for us,” Jones said. “Savannah left early. She wasn’t feeling great, so she took a COVID test. It came back positive. So of course as soon as we found out, she rushed home to rest up. So Savannah, we love you, wishing you a speedy recovery.”

This marks the third COVID-19 diagnosis for Guthrie, who tested positive for the virus in January and May of 2022.

“So this happened – again! Covid +, air filter on ‘turbo’ and it will be an isolating Mother’s Day for this mama!!!” Guthrie wrote on Instagram in May 2022. “I feel fine, just slight cold so far. Thankful to be vaccinated!”

Despite being under the weather, the “Today” hosts found a way to bring levity to the situation. As Jones was giving the update on Guthrie’s health, Roker comically inched away from Jones, prompting Daly to ask “Al, where you going? Where are you headed?”

“Well, Sheinelle was sitting between me and Savannah,” Roker joked of his sudden caution, with Jones then throwing her hands up in the air and laughing.

Guthrie, who is vaccinated against COVID-19, received her first shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine alongside Jones and “Today” co-hosts Craig Melvin, Dylan Dreyer and Jenna Bush Hager during an episode of the “Today” show in April 2021. Walgreens pharmacists administered the shots in socially-distanced fashion outside the morning show’s studio.

“I feel so grateful,” Guthrie said during the newscast. “I just think about this is something that has not been done in all of human history, a vaccine in a year. Not just one vaccine, but two, three, four candidates. It’s an incredible feat of science, and I love that and we’re so lucky to get to be the beneficiaries of that.” 

‘I feel so grateful’:‘Today’ show anchors get first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on air

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Contributing: Elise Brisco, USA TODAY