Several members of the FOX News team and the president of the network are now under quarantine after a passenger on the network’s private flight from the final presidential debate in Nashville back to New York tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the
New York Times.
According to sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal network matters, the passenger in question tested negative for the coronavirus before departing Nashville on a flight bringing Fox employees back to New York City but tested positive when passengers were tested again after arriving in New York.
The group of passengers under quarantine include Fox News Media President Jay Wallace, chief political anchor Bret Baier, anchor of The Story Martha MacCallum, and two of the hosts of The Five, Dana Perino and Juan Williams, according to
Mediaite.
“We wanted to inform you about recent developments of a few positive COVID-19 cases at FOX News Media,” Wallace and Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott wrote in an internal memo. “This is a reminder that any employee who has tested positive will be quarantining and following all of our mandatory guidelines before they enter any of our buildings.”
The anchors will remain under quarantine until they have each tested negative for the virus three times in a row. Fox News has been very careful about the spread of the coronavirus, sending many of their non-production staff employees home to work remotely back in March, reports the
Washington Post.
The few shows that have returned to FOX headquarters in Midtown Manhattan have been using a "distanced" format. The internal memo announced that they will be “further reducing some of the workforce in our buildings and operating virtually wherever possible throughout the week.”
FOX News appears to be taking this exposure episode seriously. However, since the virus first popped up in the U.S., the
New York Times notes that " on the air, Fox has not always treated the coronavirus like the serious and potentially fatal illness that it is."
They cite a number of times when anchors and commentators like Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham frequently echoed Mr. Trump’s claims that the mainstream news media and Democrats were exaggerating the issue to harm him politically.
