NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell Tests Positive for Coronavirus
SELF-QUARANTINING
Jeff Shell, NBCUniversal’s recently appointed CEO, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to an email sent to staff. He said he had tested positive despite not showing symptoms and would self-quarantine at home. After urging staff to take care of each other, he revealed the news in the third paragraph of his email, adding that it had been tough to cope, NBC News Senior Editor Claire Atkinson wrote on Twitter. NBC News reported that Shell’s email stressed that people would have to work from home “for some time” in order to limit the spread of the virus. “The other reason to work from home is that in the event you contract the virus, it will limit the number of your colleagues you inadvertently expose,” Shell wrote. “As some of you now know, I myself am in this category. I recently have been feeling under the weather and just learned that I have tested positive for COVID-19. Although the virus has been tough to cope with, I have managed to work remotely in L.A. and am improving every day.”
Last week, NBC News said a longtime staffer Larry Edgeworth had died after testing positive for the coronavirus. He was an audio technician for the network and had suffered from other health issues that led him to succumb to the illness, Chairman Andy Lack said in an email to staff. Shell was named chief executive of NBCUniversal—the parent company of entities including NBC News, Universal Pictures, Universal Parks & Resorts—in January.