There will be no Late Show for the second day in a row thanks to COVID. How can this be? Why isn’t the pandemic over? Despite what you’ve heard, we’re still in the middle of this thing and crossing another grim milestone this week: One million COVID deaths in America and six million worldwide. And that’s just reported deaths.
A good reminder of how serious COVID-19 continues to be is that celebrities are also still getting infected. There was an outbreak at the White House Correspondents Dinner last week. Just today, Bill Gates announced that he contracted the virus. Apropos of nothing: It’s never too late to get vaccinated and boosted so that, like them, your chances of a minor-ish case are stronger. But even minor cases can be pretty severe and can result in Long COVID, so, yeah, maybe a mask in crowds wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
Another reminder that you can actually see: The Late Show With Stephen Colbert is on a temporary hiatus because Colbert tested positive, again. “Stephen is experiencing symptoms consistent with a recurrence of COVID,” The Late Show Twitter account posted yesterday. “Out of an abundance of caution for his staff, guests, and audience, he will be isolating for a few additional days. As a result, the Late Show will not be taping new episodes until further notice.”
Colbert’s been struggling with COVID for the past few weeks. Per The Hollywood Reporter, he tested positive on April 21st. “Yep! I tested positive for Covid, but basically I’m feeling fine- grateful to be vaxxed and boosted,” Colbert tweeted. “Thank you for the well wishes. This just proves that I will do anything to avoid interviewing Jason Bateman.”
Shortly after, Grammy-winner and Late Show bandleader Jon Batiste also tested positive, and so have Colbert’s fellow late-night hosts. Seth Meyers, James Corden, and Jimmy Kimmel all tested positive recently. It’s almost as if hosting a show inside where a crowd of people laughs directly at you is still kind of dangerous, and maybe having some easy-to-follow rules in place for the benefit of public safety was a good thing.
We wish Colbert and his late-night compatriots a speedy recovery. Everyone else, stay safe.