'Good Morning America': Robin Roberts Addresses Her Absence, Reveals When She Will Return

By Allison Schonter

Amid a near week-long absence from the ABC morning show Good Morning America, Robin Roberts has announced she has tested positive for COVID-19. Roberts' co-anchors kicked off Friday morning's episode with the announcement, with George Stephanopoulos telling viewers that Roberts will remain off the air for several days until her Monday return.

The Friday morning announcement came just hours after Roberts herself confirmed her diagnosis in a Thursday night tweet addressing the lingering concern regarding her whereabouts. In the post, Roberts said she appreciates "the concern about my absence this week on [GMA]" before she went on to share, "unfortunately I tested positive for Covid." According to Roberts, her "symptoms have been mild" and she is "doing well" and "looking forward to returning as soon as I can."

In recent days, GMA viewers had flooded the co-anchors' social media posts asking about Roberts and when she may return. According to Stephanopoulos, while Roberts will continue to isolate amid her diagnosis, GMA fans can expect to see her back on the morning show beginning Monday, Jan. 24. Stephanopoulos said Roberts will appear virtually. It is unclear when she will make her in-studio return.

Roberts is not only the latest ABC talent to test positive for COVID-19 – The View's Whoopi Goldberg announced in early January that she tested positive – but also the latest morning show host. The Friday morning announcement of her positive diagnosis comes just a little more than a week after NBC's Today was wracked with multiple positive test results. On Jan. 10, co-anchor Hoda Kotb announced she had tested positive for the virus and would be out of Studio 1A and isolated at home for several days. Kotb at the time assured fans that she was "feeling good." Just days later, and just as Kotb was preparing to return to set, Savannah Guthrie announced that she would be working from home after she also tested positive for a breakthrough case of COVID-19.

The list of high-profile cases comes amid a surge in cases across the nation, largely caused by the omicron variant. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the omicron variant is currently the most dominant strain in the U.S. The strain has resulted in the U.S. breaking its daily case count records on multiple occasions; early in January, the nation reported a record-breaking 1 million new cases in a single day.

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