Today anchor Hoda Kotb tests positive for breakthrough COVID case

Today show anchor Hoda Kotb has tested positive for COVID and is isolating at home, it was revealed on Thursday, as the TV host was absent from the morning show for the second day in a row. 

The 57-year-old – who is fully vaccinated and has received a booster shot – was last seen on the Today show on Tuesday morning, however she was absent on Wednesday, sparking questions about her whereabouts. 

Those questions were answered this morning when Kotb’s co-host, Craig Melvin, informed viewers about the mother-of-two’s breakthrough COVID case – adding that she is ‘doing just fine’. 

‘We should mention here before we get to the news, the reason Hoda is off, like many others, she tested positive for COVID,’ he announced. 

‘But Hoda tells us she is doing just fine and we look forward to having her back very, very soon.’  

Today host Hoda Kotb has tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolating at home, her co-hosts revealed on Thursday, as she was absent from the morning show for a second day 

The 57-year-old, who is fully vaccinated and has received a booster shot, took to Twitter after the news was shared to update her fans, revealing that she is ‘feeling good’ 

After the news of her COVID case was shared on-air, Kotb herself took to Twitter to thank fans for their ‘well wishes’, revealing that she is ‘feeling good’ and that she ‘can’t wait’ to return to the studio ‘when she is in the clear’. 

The Today anchor’s positive test result comes after she spent the holiday season at home with her two adopted daughters, Haley Joy, four, and Hope Catherine, two, her fiance Joel Schiffman, her mother Sameha, and her sister Hala. 

It is not known whether any of her family members have tested positive. 

Kotb was last seen filming in the studio on Tuesday, when she offered no indication that she was feeling unwell. 

It is not thought that any of her fellow Today hosts have tested positive; Savannah Guthrie, Jenna Bush Hager, Craig Melvin, Al Roker, and Sheinelle Jones are all still filming in the studio. 

Kotb last appeared on the show on Tuesday, when she filmed live in the studio. At the time, she gave no indication that she was feeling unwell, however she missed filming on Wednesday

The news of her positive test result was shared on Thursday morning by her co-host Craig Melvin, who said that Kotb is ‘doing just fine’ 

On Monday, the US recorded a record one million new COVID cases – with the CDC confirming on Wednesday that the wildly transmissible Omicron variant, which appears milder particularly among vaccinated individuals, is fueling the surge in cases. 

The number of new reported cases fell to 869,187 on Tuesday, down from the record set on Monday but higher than any other day since the pandemic began; that statistic fell once again on Wednesday, when there were more than 585,000 new cases recorded. 

On Wednesday, CDC director Rochelle Walensky confirmed that the agency estimates that the Omicron variant now represents 95 per cent of all cases across the US, and Delta makes up the remaining 5 per cent.  

The country’s seven-day rolling average of new cases stood at 565,042, a 114 per cent increase from a week ago, according to a DailyMail.com analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.

However, deaths remain relatively low, with 2,384 new deaths on Tuesday, a decline of 13 per cent from week-ago levels on a rolling average basis. Hospitalizations are rising, but remain well below their peak last January.

Mother-of-two Kotb spent the holidays at home with her adopted daughters Haley Joy and Hope Catherine, fiance Joel Schiffman, mother Sameha, and sister Hala 

Kotb and Schiffman spent New Year’s Eve at home with their daughters; it is not known whether any of the Today host’s family members have tested positive 

The TV host received her first shot of the COVID vaccine on March 31, 2021

Kotb revealed on Instagram on March 31, 2021 that she had received her first dose of the COVID vaccine; she got her second dose on April 28. 

Shortly before getting her first shot, the Today anchor spoke to People about her desire to get vaccinated, explaining that she wanted to protect not only herself but her family members and the public. 

‘This is who I’m getting vaccinated for when it’s my turn: First, for my mother, who’s in her 80s; for my fiancé, Joel; for my two children, and for every single person who I pass by, who I walk by and who I see,’ she said. 

‘So I am getting vaccinated not only for my family, but for yours too.’

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