The Dr. Oz Show has been prompted to shut down production after a staff member has tested positive for COVID-19. After showing symptoms, the staffer was advised by Dr. Oz to get a test and was sent home as a precaution. According to Variety, the employee doesn’t work in the New York City studio where the show is set but in another building. Additionally, source close to production said that the employee “doesn’t deal directly with Dr. Oz, and he has not been in the office since last Thursday,” thus making no contact with the rest of the team. This is the only employee that has tested positive so far, according to a report from Page Six.
However, Dr. Mehmet Oz has still decided to continue taping the show from home, utilizing Skype to conduct interviews and releasing episodes daily on his website, “We’re gonna shut it down. We have had, I think, enough shows out there telling what’s happening and I finally built a studio in my own home so I can broadcast from here,” the host said on morning talk program Fox & Friends.
Airing on the Fox TV channel, The Dr.Oz Show has answered viewers’ questions regarding health and wellness concerns since the beginning of the pandemic. The program remains one of the few shows that has not completely disbanded production in the wake of global news.