Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, Fox News president Jay Wallace and The Five co-hosts Dana Perino and Juan Williams are among those quarantining after a person they traveled with on a private plane later tested positive for COVID-19.
The New York Times, which broke the story, reports that everyone on board a flight chartered by the channel from Nashville to New York last week has been advised to quarantine and get tested. The final presidential debate was held Thursday in Nashville, and many Fox on-air talent and staff were in attendance to cover the event.
A Fox News spokesperson directed The Hollywood Reporter to what they told the Times, which was that they could “not confirm any details of the exposure, citing the need to keep private health information confidential.”
In a memo to staff Monday morning, Wallace and Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott wrote that there had been “a few positive COVID-19 cases” at the channel. In light of the new cases, Scott and Wallace write that “we will be reducing some of the workforce in our buildings and operating virtually wherever possible throughout the week,” adding that “only employees who are critical to that night’s production will will be permitted to work from 1211 [Avenue of the Americas].”
There will also be enhanced testing protocols and increased safety procedures.
The anchors are expected to continue hosting their shows remotely, per the Times. The news of the quarantines come just nine days before the presidential election, which Baier and MacCallum will anchor for the channel from its Manhattan headquarters.
