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Employees were sent home at approximately 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11 to allow crews to sanitize and disinfect CBS’ offices and headquarters.
CBS Broadcast Center in New York City is located at 513 W 57th Street between 11th and 12th avenues. The second building is located directly across the street at 555 West 57th street.
The closure is not expected to be a long one, and CBS is expected to reopen as soon as Monday, March 16. Despite the unexpected evacuation, the shows will go on and CBS is expected to continue to broadcast from other locations.
CBS This Morning was broadcast on Thursday, March 12 from the network's Washington, D.C. studios.
In an email, CBS News President Suzan Zirinsky said, "we have learned that two employees – one working on the 5th floor of the 513 building of the Broadcast Center and another on the 9th floor of 555 West 57th Street – tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19).
"We have been planning for this possibility and want everyone to be assured that we are taking all the necessary measures.
“We are asking that employees in both buildings work remotely for the next two days while the buildings are cleaned and disinfected.
"In addition, we have identified employees who may have been in direct contact with these individuals in question, and they will be asked to self-quarantine and work remotely for the next 14 days.”
New York has been among the states hit the hardest by the COVID-19 outbreak, with more than 200 confirmed cases, the second-most in the country outside of Washington state.
Globally, as of Thursday, March 12, there have been 129,589 confirmed coronavirus cases that resulted in 4,749 deaths. In the United States, there have been 1,364 confirmed cases that resulted in 38 deaths.
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