2 ‘View’ hosts test positive for Covid before Harris interview
Both hosts were fully vaccinated and it is unclear at this time whether Harris was exposed backstage.
Two hosts of ABC’s “The View” abruptly left the show’s set on Friday after testing positive for Covid-19 just before Vice President Kamala Harris was expected to appear in-person on the program.
The two hosts, Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro, were fully vaccinated and contracted breakthrough cases of the virus, co-host Joy Behar said. But later Friday, Navarro said she’s had two negative test results, and that she’s waiting on a fourth to come back.
Navarro didn’t say whether Hostin has had a false positive.
“And I got to say, [Harris’] team rolled with it. You know, it was crazy. She ended up doing the interview from that room via remote in her ears while we were locked up in our dressing rooms waiting for the test results that we took. So we took rapid antigen test and we took a PCR,” Navarro said on CNN. “Both have come back false positive for me. I can’t speak for Sunny. It’s her privacy. It’s up to her to talk about her test results.”
Harris was not in contact with Hostin or Navarro before the show, deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed in a statement to POLITICO. The vice president’s Friday schedule will remain as it was originally planned.
Harris, who had flown to New York earlier Friday to appear on the show, conducted her interview remotely. She emphasized the importance of being vaccinated in the case of breakthrough Covid-19 infections.
“Sunny and Ana are strong women and I know they’re fine, but it really also does speak to the fact they’re vaccinated and vaccines really make all the difference because otherwise we’d be concerned about hospitalization and worse,” Harris said in her show appearance.
The vice president told the remaining “View” hosts that “people have got to be responsible” by getting vaccinated against Covid-19.
“When I think about it in the context of any one of us who have had the awful experience of holding the hand of loved one who’s in an ICU bed or near death: don’t put your families through that,” she said. “The vaccine is free, it’s safe, it will save your life. So, folks just need to get vaccinated.”