An NBC News staffer died after being diagnosed with the coronavirus.
Andy Lack, the chairman of NBC News and MSNBC, sent an internal memo on Friday that announced Larry Edgeworth, an audio technician, died after testing positive for the virus, which was first reported by the Daily Beast and confirmed by Washington Examiner.
Lack said Edgeworth had “suffered from other health issues that led him to succumb to the illness” and that he was a beloved member of the team.
“Many of you were fortunate enough to work with Larry over the years, so you know that he was the guy you wanted by your side no matter where you were,” Lack said in the memo. “Stacy Brady says he was known as the ‘gentle giant who would give you the shirt off his back.'”
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The news business at large has been rattled by the coronavirus, which has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people around the world. A skeleton crew continues to come in and work at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, NBC’s headquarters in midtown Manhattan.
Savannah Guthrie, the co-host of Today, has begun filming for the show in her basement after feeling sick. Her colleagues, Al Roker and Craig Melvin, also self-quarantined after a staffer tested positive. All members of the third-hour editorial team were told they need to work from home. Melvin and Roker are both hosts of the third hour. The pair gave an update from the confines of their home earlier this week.
