New York Daily News: By Dan Clarendon – 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 7:30am on Tuesday, and co-host Sheinelle Jones gave viewers an update at the start of the show’s 8am 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,” co-host 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 February 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 February 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.”
Top Feature Photo: “Today” show co-anchors Savannah Guthrie, left, and Hoda Kotb pose on set at NBC Studios in New York – Charles Sykes/Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
