‘Dr. Oz’ staffer diagnosed with coronavirus, show will shift to remote production

“The Dr. Oz Show” is shutting down studio production and will film new episodes remotely after a staffer tested positive for coronavirus.

Instead, Mehmet Oz, the show’s namesake host, will tape segments at his home.

According to Variety, the staffer was diagnosed Wednesday, March 18, 2020. The employee reportedly worked in a separate building from the studio and had not been in contact with Oz or the production staff.

The staffer had been out of the office for over a week after he first started coughing and was sent home.

A Variety source said that Oz had need had physical contact with the staffer since February, though the two did communicate daily via phone.

The March 19, 2020, edition of “Dr. Oz” featured what appeared to be a pretaped open of Oz tossing to a prepared update package as well as both a remote and in studio interview.

It’s not immediately clear when these segments were taped.

Much of the rest of the episode was taken up by a recording of a 2011 interview with director Steven Soderbergh about his then new release “Contagion.”

“Dr. Oz” is a medical focused show and has been providing shows focused on the outbreak — and presumably will continue to do so for the near future.

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