Fox News co-host Juan Williams is currently in quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19, the New York Times reported Thursday.
Williams reportedly received the positive result Thursday afternoon and missed the day’s episode of Fox News’ “The Five,” which he co-hosts along with Jesse Watters, Greg Gutfeld, and Dana Perino. After returning on Monday from a vacation that began November 18, Williams had appeared in person on the show Wednesday, sitting around seven feet apart from his co-hosts.
Juan Williams appeared on-set 3x this week. His co-hosts on “The Five” will now broadcast from home studios as a safety precaution. https://t.co/hzT3Z1fPc0
— Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) December 4, 2020
“I’m not great but I’m not dying or anything,” Williams told The Daily Beast. “I’m worried about myself and my family. My wife doesn’t want me to come back to the house right now. On lots of levels it’s concerning … You have to guard against vagrant dark thoughts. The thing is what can do for you until things get bad?”
Fox News emphasized the network’s safety protocols and said it planned to broadcast “The Five” remotely “for the foreseeable future” in a statement to The Daily Beast:
Since the start of the pandemic, FOX News Media has implemented strict company-wide protocols adhering to all CDC and state guidelines, including regular testing of all in studio on-air personalities, mask mandates and daily health assessments for all employees entering the building. We will continue to take all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our staff, including broadcasting The Five via home studios for the foreseeable future.
“It’s one of those things that they have wanted that show back together and some anchors are working from home but they wanted us back,” Williams told the outlet. (RELATED: ‘They Have Their Own Rules’: Juan Williams Says COVID Hypocrisy Is Bad But The Real Problem Is McConnell)
The Fox News co-host is reportedly quarantining in a hotel in Washington D.C.
Williams told The Daily Beast that he found out about his diagnosis on Thursday and is currently quarantining in a Washington, D.C. hotel.