'Ellen DeGeneres Show' Return Delayed Due to Rising COVID-19 Cases

The Ellen DeGeneres Show went on an early hiatus at the end of 2020 after host Ellen DeGeneres revealed that she tested positive for COVID-19. According to Variety, the talk show's return has since been delayed (it was reportedly due to return the week of Jan. 4). Those behind the program decided to postpone returning to production because of a rising number of COVID-19 cases in the Los Angeles area.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show has been airing re-runs since Dec. 10, as the show was forced to go into hiatus early due to DeGeneres's positive COVID-19 diagnosis. While the show hoped to resume production this coming Monday, they have had to change their plans because of the high COVID-19 infection rate in the surrounding Los Angeles area. Producers sent a memo to the show's staff on Thursday in which they informed them that they would have to work from home during the week and that no new episodes of the talk show would be produced. They clarified in their memo that all staff and crew would still be paid for that week. Due to a rising number of COVID-19 cases in the area, California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently asked Hollywood studios to consider pausing their various productions so that the state could get the health crisis under better control.

DeGeneres told her fans back in December that she tested positive for COVID-19. She released a statement on her Twitter account that read, "Hi Everyone. I want to let you all know that I tested positive for Covid-19. Fortunately, I'm feeling fine right now. Anyone who has been in close contact with me has been notified, and I am following all proper CDC guidelines. I'll see you all again after the holidays. Please stay healthy and safe." About a week after she revealed her diagnosis, DeGeneres shared an update with her fans in which she explained that she was feeling much better.

"Hi everybody, just saying thank you to all the well wishes out there, I appreciate it very much. I'm feeling 100 percent, I feel really good," DeGeneres said in a video that was filmed by her wife, Portia de Rossi, from their home. She went on to say that she didn't know that some of the symptoms that she was experiencing were even related to a COVID-19 diagnosis. "One thing that they don't tell you is you get, somehow, excruciating back pain. Didn't know that was a symptom but I talked to some other people — back pain. Who knew? How come?" The clip ended with DeGeneres and de Rossi playing a fun game of Connect 4, with the talk show host joking that her wife let her win the match.