Whoopi Goldberg has tested positive for COVID-19, making her unable to return to The View after its break for the holidays, according to Deadline.
Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin and guest host Ana Navarro hosted the show by video from their homes as the show shuts down temporarily from the virus. Taking over Goldberg’s usual moderator spot, Behar informed the audience that Goldberg did test positive, but should be fine.
“Since she is vaxxed and boosted, her symptoms have been very, very mild,” she said, adding that Goldberg is expected to come back next week. She also said that she also hopes the cast will be back in the studio.
"As you can see we're back in boxes and doing the show remotely, hopefully for just a week," she said. "I'm praying that it's just a week but you never know because this omicron thing is all over the place."
Navarro also discussed the Dec. 14 death of her mother Violeta Navarro, saying “I’m heartbroken.”
“We found a picture of her dressed as an angel, and so I took it as a sign that I have a guardian angel in Heaven now,” she said as a picture of her mother as a child was shown to the audience. Condolences to Navarro and her family at this time.
The View’s hosts have all taken pro-vaccination stances regarding the COVID-19 crisis, routinely going against conservative guest hosts who refuse to get vaccinated or spread anti-vax rhetoric. The most inflammatory guest, Jedediah Bila, joined the hosts via her home because of her refusal to get vaccinated (ABC and its parent company Disney has a company-wide policy for its employees to be vaccinated). She also claimed to have “sky-high, multi-tiered, multi-faceted natural immunity” against the virus, saying her belief that the vaccine doesn’t prevent people from getting or transmitting COVID. Hostin refuted her claim, adding that her husband’s parents died from the illness. She also said Bila’s rhetoric was “too dangerous to be on air.”
The View airs weekdays on ABC.
