‘Good Morning America’ Star Leaves Studio Amid COVID-19 Surge

Ginger Zee is taking precautions amid the latest surge in COVID cases with the omicron variant. The Good Morning America meteorologist announced Tuesday that she would be working outside of the studio for a while after the concerning uptick of cases in New York City especially. 

“Back out of the studio to make sure everyone stays safe during the latest surge,” Zee captioned a selfie shared to Instagram. “Hope y’all are healthy and well this Tuesday morning! Mid 20s where I am…” Asked by a follower if she was headed “back to the basement,” Zee responded that the “basement has been gone a long time but can still use the outside.” The managing editor of the climate unit at ABC News also responded to a follower who accused her of “fear-mongering” by taking precautions. “I’m following my companies ask for me to be out of studio,” she wrote back. “It isn’t hurting anyone.”

Good Morning America is one of the many live shows to change operations in the wake of the surge. Tuesday’s Bachelorette finale on ABC was noticeably missing one of its hosts, Tayshia Adams, who didn’t travel to the live taping in Los Angeles “out of an abundance of caution” after being exposed to the omicron variant in New York. 

FOX has also canceled its planned live broadcast of its New Year’s special, Toast & Roast 2022, starring Ken Jeong and Joel McHale as well as featuring live performances from Imagine Dragons, Maroon 5, Billy Idol, Pink and Trace Adkins. “While we are confident in the health and safety protocols for FOX’s New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast 2022, the recent velocity of the spread of Omicron cases has made it impossible to produce a live special in Times Square that meets our standards,” the network said in a statement Tuesday.

“We will not be moving forward with FOX’s New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast 2022 in New York. The health and safety of our casts and crews has always been, and will continue to be, of the utmost importance. Replacement programming for New Year’s Eve on FOX will be announced in the coming days,” the statement continued.

Radio City Music Hall’s Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes was also recently canceled for the rest of the season due to COVID and last weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live was broadcast with mostly pre-recorded segments, minimal cast members and no live musical performance or audience.