NBCUniversal’s newly appointed CEO, Jeff Shell, informed staff Thursday that he has tested positive for coronavirus.
Shell reportedly shared his diagnosis in a memo to staff that he contracted the virus despite being asymptomatic. The 55-year-old chief executive indicated he is self-quarantining and will work from home for the time being.
“I recently have been feeling under the weather and just learned that I have tested positive for Covid-19,” Shell wrote in an email, according to CNBC. “Although the virus has been tough to cope with, I have managed to work remotely in L.A. and am improving every day.”
The Hill has reached out to NBCUniversal for comment.
Shell was named CEO last year after serving as chairman of NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment. He replaced Steve Burke.
NBCUniversal last week directed its employees to work from home to guard against the spread of the coronavirus.
The coronavirus claimed the life of an NBC News technician earlier this month. The network announced last week that Larry Edgeworth, who had worked in an equipment room at NBCUniversal’s headquarters in New York, died after testing positive for coronavirus.
Edgeworth, 61, reportedly suffered from other health issues.
New York has become the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S., accounting for more than 33,000 of the nearly 70,000 cases in country, according to a New York Times tracker.
Of the more than 970 deaths in the U.S. tied to coronavirus, at least 310 were in New York.