Savannah, hit with COVID, ducks out of ‘Today;’ Hoda’s been out a week
The two anchors of “Today” have left the building. Savannah Guthrie left the NBC morning show in the middle of its Tuesday broadcast after testing positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, Hoda Kotb, Guthrie’s co-anchor, has been missing in action for more than a week.
Guthrie left “Today” around 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, and co-host Sheinelle Jones gave viewers an update at the start of the show’s 8 a.m. hour.
“It has been an interesting morning for us,” she 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.”
As Jones spoke, meteorologist Al Roker edged away from her. “Now, luckily, Sheinelle was sitting between me and Savannah,” he quipped.
“Darn it!” a smiling Jones replied.
“I’m right in the trenches with you, Sheinelle,” cohost Carson Daly chimed in. “Don’t worry.”
Guthrie, 51, has had COVID-19 twice before: once in January 2022 and again that May, as “Today” notes.
On the other hand, there has been no update on Kotb, who hasn’t attended a live taping of “Today” or “Today with Hoda & Jenna” since Feb. 17. Jones and NBC News colleagues Craig Melvin, Tom Llamas and Willie Geist have been filling in for the 58-year-old.
Kotb did appear in the Presidents’ Day episode of “Today with Hoda & Jenna” on Feb. 20, but that show was taped the previous Friday, TVLine notes.
Kotb, who battled breast cancer in the mid-2000s and had her own breakthrough case of COVID in January 2022, hasn’t addressed her “Today” absence on social media. However, she did post an Instagram photo of a sign reading “Choose hope” on Monday.
“Today show just isn’t the same without you!” one fan wrote in a comment on the post. “I hope you’re OK.”