NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell Confirms He Has COVID-19

Jeff Fusco/AP Images for Comcast

Jeff Shell, NBCUniversal’s new CEO, tested for the CCP virus, according to a statement from him.

“I recently have been feeling under the weather and just learned that I have tested positive for COVID-19,” Shell wrote to his staff members. “Although the virus has been tough to cope with, I have managed to work remotely in LA and am improving every day.”

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China before it was transmitted worldwide.

NBCUniversal employees were told to work at home last week amid federal guidelines and state-mandated requirements. The coronavirus has left the company reeling in recent days after all of its theme parks were closed down, film and TV operations are suspended, and the Tokyo Olympics have been postponed.

“Many of you, like me, are working from home while trying to balance family commitments and other challenges, and I know this isn’t easy,” Shell said a memo obtained by Variety magazine. “But for those of you who can do your jobs from home, it is absolutely critical that you do so.”

Shell said that about $150 million will be committed “across our film, television and parks businesses to help our employees and other workers, and to at least partially bridge the period before normal operations can restart.”

Last week, NBC News employee Larry Edgeworth, who worked at the flagship 30 Rock studio in Manhattan, died from the virus, according to the firm.

“I’m deeply saddened to tell you that we’ve lost a longtime member of our NBC News family–Larry Edgeworth passed away yesterday,” NBC News chief Andrew Lack confirmed, according to Deadline Hollywood.