Media

Second Fox Business employee tests positive for coronavirus

by Joe Concha - 03/21/20 3:24 PM ET

A second employee at New York City-based Fox Business Network has tested positive for coronavirus, according to a staff memo sent by Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and president and executive editor Jay Wallace.

“We just learned a short time ago that another one of our Fox Business employees has tested positive for COVID-19,” Scott and Wallace wrote in the memo. “Monday, March 16 was this employee’s last day working from 1211 [Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY] and they were located on the 12th floor.

“On the advice of medical professionals, we have now made the determination that this employee’s direct co-workers/team self-quarantine for 14 days since last contact,” they continued. “In addition to taking every necessary precaution and following every protocol, we are deep cleaning all areas this employee was in contact with, in addition to the daily sanitizing and disinfecting that has been performed several times a day throughout all key areas of the building.

“We will continue to keep everyone informed and up to speed as we manage this process and as any other situations arise,” they concluded. “We are a team working toward the same goal of performing a public service via our linear and non-linear platforms and we will all get through this together.”

The news comes one day after Fox Business announced its plans to remove two additional hours from its daily programming schedule as the coronavirus pandemic continues to prompt unprecedented changes to daily news shows and the way that news is reported.

The changes include the temporarily ceasing of production of FBN’s 5 a.m. program, “FBN am” and its 5 p.m. offering, “Bulls & Bears.”

“While FBN will remain committed to delivering up-to-the-minute breaking business news and analysis, our first priority is the health and safety of our employees,” Fox Business Network president Lauren Petterson said in a Friday statement.

“This scaled back schedule will ensure we continue to deliver critical information to our audience amidst this global pandemic and time of market volatility while helping to fight the further escalation of the coronavirus,” Petterson added.

It was also reported late Friday that the network’s highest-rated host, Lou Dobbs, is in self-quarantine “out of an abundance of precaution” after a staffer on his Fox Business show had tested positive for the coronavirus.

“[Dobbs] is in self-quarantine tonight. We just learned that one of his team members has tested positive for COVID-19,” said Fox Business host David Asman. “We fully support that employee 100 percent, who we all wish a speedy recovery.

“Lou feels well, he has no symptoms, but out of an abundance of caution, he and his team are taking the necessary precautions,” Asman added.

The network also announced on March 13 that “Trish Regan Primetime” and “Kennedy” were temporarily ceasing production in an effort to allocate “all resources from both shows for staffing needs during critical market hours,” per a network memo.

Tags Coronavirus Fox News Lou Dobbs