Ellen DeGeneres tests positive for COVID-19 and is 'feeling fine right now'
- Ellen DeGeneres announced Thursday that she has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
- "I want to let you all know that I tested positive for COVID-19. Fortunately, I'm feeling fine right now," the talk show host, 62, tweeted.
- DeGeneres said that she's "following all proper CDC guidelines," adding that those who have come in contact with her have been notified of her positive test results.
- "I'll see you all again after the holidays. Please stay healthy and safe," she wrote.
Ellen DeGeneres has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and will halt production of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" until January as a result.
"Hi Everyone, I want to let you all know that I tested positive for COVID-19. Fortunately, I'm feeling fine right now," the talk show host announced Thursday on Twitter.
"Anyone who has been in close contact with me has been notified, and I am following all proper CDC guidelines," DeGeneres, 62, continued, referencing that The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises individuals who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus to stay home, separate from others, and contact those who may have been exposed.
The talk show host added, "I'll see you all again after the holidays. Please stay healthy and safe."
"The Ellen DeGeneres" show will halt production until January, a Telepictures spokesperson told Insider in a statement Thursday.
Warner Bros. Television, the studio behind DeGeneres' eponymous talk show, also had six staff members with positive COVID-19 test results as of Wednesday, according to Los Angeles' Department of Public Health. It remains unconfirmed whether DeGeneres was included in that count.
Insider reached out to a rep for "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," but didn't immediately hear back.
DeGeneres returned to the Warner Bros. lot on September 21 to film season 18 of her daytime talk show after a string of at-home episodes early in the pandemic. The talk show host invited her first in-person audience to the studio on October 28.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, 40 individuals were invited to the show's in-person studio audience, while 70 people remained virtual. USA Today confirmed that the studio holds 300 audience members at capacity.
The news of DeGeneres' diagnosis arrives as the number of novel coronavirus cases across the country surges. As of Wednesday, Los Angeles County reported 9,243 new COVID-19 cases and 75 deaths related to the novel coronavirus, the highest number since July 29, according to Los Angeles' Department of Public Health.
As the United States climbs past 15 million confirmed cases and approaches 300,000 deaths related to the novel coronavirus, many states, including California, have put new restrictions in place.
DeGeneres isn't the only celebrity to have contracted COVID-19. Earlier this year, Tom Hanks became the first celebrity to go public with his diagnosis and since then others, including Kevin Hart, Hugh Grant, Idris Elba and Khloe Kardashian, have revealed they have tested positive.