The View axes ‘Nurse Wendy’ over COVID fiasco that saw two hosts test positive and get pulled from set while live on-air, minutes before Kamala Harris interview: Show gushed over ‘hero’ RN just five months ago
- Kamala Harris was due to appear on The View on September 24 when co-hosts Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin were suddenly pulled off the panel
- The live on-air disruption shocked and angered the other co-hosts, shortly before Harris was set to begin her interview
- Navarro and Hostin were believed to have tested positive for COVID-19 with a PCR test, but it later emerged that the results were false-positives
- An analysis by ICD 10 Monitor last year found that the false-positive rate with PCR tests was between 0.2 and 0.9 per cent
- The nurse who has been working with The View co-hosts for testing has reportedly been reassigned – although she has not been fired
The resident nurse on set of The View has been reassigned from her job after a fiasco in which two presenters were hauled off set after testing positive for COVID, minutes before Vice President Kamala Harris was due to appear on stage.
Wendy Livingston, who worked as the show’s health and safety manager, has now been moved to work in a different role within ABC following the September 24 incident, according to a report.
Her ouster was revealed by The Daily Beast on Thursday, with the vice president’s close brush with the virus blamed for Livingston’s departure.
Harris’s team was said to be furious about the debacle.
Wendy Livingston, a registered nurse, was overseeing the COVID testing for the hosts of The View. On September 24 Kamala Harris’s interview was thrown into chaos when two of the co-hosts tested positive for COVID. They were later shown to have had false positives. Livingston reportedly no longer carries out the role, but she is still employed by ABC
Two co-hosts, Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin (right) are pictured on September 24 being pulled off set just before Kamala Harris was due to appear
Harris was set to sit down on September 24 with the program’s stars for a lengthy interview, before Hostin and Ana Navarro ‘tested positive’ for COVID at the eleventh hour.
The pair were booted from the show’s stage as producers scrambled to make sure Harris hadn’t come into contact with any potentially infected employees.
She eventually conducted a shortened interview via video link from another room at ABC’s New York studios, and her team were said to be furious at the debacle.
Harris eventually conducted a shortened interview via video link from another room at ABC’s New York studios. Her office is said to be ‘deeply concerned’ about the incident
On Thursday multiple sources told The Daily Beast that Livingston, a registered nurse, has since stopped performing her medical duties with the show, but is still a network employee.
‘Wendy has not been fired,’ an ABC spokesperson told the site.
‘She remains a part of the health & safety team supporting testing and vaccine verification.’
One source told CNN that Harris’s team insisted The View hosts have a PCR test 24 hours before her scheduled interview.
A rep for show went back to the VP’s office on the eve of the show, telling them that the tests were ‘all clear’.
The co-hosts looked stunned as they received the news ahead of the highly-anticipated interview
It eventually turned out that Hostin and Navarro were actually not actually COVID positive.
A slew of subsequent tests returned negative results.
The main reason for false positive results are laboratory error and what is known as an ‘off-target reaction’ – the test reacting with something other than COVID-19.
A PCR test, which stands for ‘polymerase chain reaction,’ is considered the gold standard of testing, using a method of repeatedly copying a segment of genetic material.
It is used to quickly amplify tiny amounts of DNA fragments so that they can be studied in more detail.
The analysts look for a genetic marker that is unique to a particular pathogen, giving scientists more certainty in the results.
An analysis by ICD 10 Monitor last year found that the false-positive rate with PCR tests was between 0.2 and 0.9 per cent.
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