With New York emerging as the epicenter of the latest surge in the coronavirus pandemic, tied to the fast-spreading Omicron variant, NBC’s Saturday Night Live has imposed restrictions for the taping tonight of the sketch program’s last episode of 2021.
“Due to the recent spike in the Omicron variant and out of an abundance of caution, there will be no live audience for tonight’s taping of Saturday Night Live and the show will have limited cast and crew,” a spokesperson for SNL, which is based in New York, said Saturday. “The show continues to follow all government safety guidelines in addition to a rigorous testing protocol.”
According to the New York Post, there has been a Covid outbreak on the show. As a result, there will be a skeleton crew tonight, with Kenan Thompson as possibly the only sketch performer and Tina Fey subbing for Colin Jost on Weekend Update.
Paul Rudd is the SNL host tonight with musical guest Charli XCX. As a result of NBC reducing the crew members on set, Charli XCX pulled out.
New York State yesterday recorded the highest single-day total of new Covid cases since the beginning of the pandemic. The count of 21,027 new infections is well above the previous recorded high of 19,942 on January 14, at the absolute peak of the winter 2021 surge.
“The surge is here. It’s going to get worse….We know it’s going to get worse, especially after Christmas Day,” NY Governor Kathy Hochul told MSNBC’s Katy Tur last night.
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