The COVID-19 virus is now directly impacting the television news industry.
THR’s Jeremy Barr reported that CBS News president Susan Zirinsky sent a memo to news division staff not long ago, stating that two staffers have tested positive for the coronavirus. She did not specify who or what programs they work on.
NEW: Two NYC-based CBS News employees have tested positive for coronavirus, according to memo just sent to employees. President Susan Zirinsky says: “We have been planning for this possibility and want everyone to be assured that we are taking all necessary measures.”
Advertisement— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) March 11, 2020
“We are asking that employees in both buildings work remotely for the next two days while the buildings are cleaned and disinfected,” Zirinsky told staffers.
TVNewser has reached out to CBS News for comment and have yet to hear back. We will update this post with more info as it trickles in.
Not long after CBS News announced that two of its New York-based staffers had contracted the COVID-19 virus, NBC News sent out a memo of its own to employees in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut asking that people who can work remotely start doing so:
Here’s the note, obtained by CNN’s Oliver Darcy:
NBC News President Noah Oppenheim and MSNBC President Phil Griffin say in an email to employees that NBCUniversal is advising employees in NY, NJ, and CT “who are able to work remotely or stagger working hours to begin doing so on Monday.” pic.twitter.com/KqWS5j7ibn
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) March 11, 2020