Kelly Ripa Has COVID-19, Is ‘Taking All Necessary Precautions’

Kelly Ripa has tested positive for COVID-19. The Live! with Kelly and Ryan co-host announced on Instagram on Monday, May 9 that she was quarantining after she “unfortunately… tested positive for covid-19 this weekend.” Ripa, who is fully vaccinated and also received her booster, did not say if she was experiencing any symptoms.

In the message to fans, which Ripa shared on her Instagram Story, the 51-year-old explained, “thankfully i am fully vaccinated and boosted and today’s show was already pre taped last week.” She added that amid her diagnosis, she is “taking all necessary precautions and looking forward to returning to normal life as soon as the standard quarantine time is over.” In true Ripa fashion, she went on to joke that on a “lighter note,” she “did receive the peace and quiet i requested for Mother’s Day. Thanks for understanding, Xo, Kelly.”

Ripa’s diagnosis comes amid a string of precautions Live! With Kelly and Ryan has taken. Although the talk show continued to air throughout the duration of the pandemic, at the onset of the pandemic in March of 2020, the show transitioned to remote broadcasts, with Ripa and her co-host Ryan Seacrest hosting from home. When the two hosts returned to the New York City studio some six months later, they maintained social distancing, hosting from separate desks, with viewers at home seeing them on a split-screen that almost made it appear as though they were sitting side-by-side. Amid an uptick in COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant in January, however, Ripa briefly returned to remote work.

“Don’t adjust your dials. We’re coming to you from the studio, which we made to look like two separate bedrooms,” Ripa said, with Seacrest going on to explain that they were filming from home “out of an abundance of caution.” Ripa went on to state, “I don’t think there’s a person in America right now, and probably Canada as well, who doesn’t know somebody who has COVID right now, this new variant of the coronavirus or has had it recently or is about to get it.”

Prior to her Monday pre-taped appearance on Live, Ripa was joined by her three children for a special Mother’s Day episode of Live! with Kelly and Ryan. During the special episode, Ripa hilariously tested her kids’ knowledge during a game called, “Who Knows Mom Best,” asking them everything from her favorite dessert to what she wants for Mother’s Day, which happened to be peace and quiet. Ripa celebrated the moment on Instagram by sharing a photo of herself and her kids, writing, “Bring your chickens to work day!”