For those who can, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, many across the country are now working from home - after the government advised that those who can work remotely, should. We've been told to stay away from clubs, pubs and places with mass gatherings. And it's even impacting TV as for the first time ever, this weekend, Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway will be filmed without an audience - as most studio-based programmes have cut their live audiences.
But some presenters are now not even making it to the studio, instead deciding to present from home. On Good Morning Britain, Susanna Reid has been presenting from home as her son had a persistent cough. Even though she doesn’t have any Covid-19 symptoms herself, she is isolating as it’s advised for whole families to isolate for 14 days if one person in their household is showing symptoms of the virus. But Susanna admitted that, unlike others, she felt very lucky because she would be paid when she was ill - unlike many of those freelancing, on zero hours contracts or in the hospitality industry.
Also presenting from home, due to the same reason of a family member showing symptoms, is The One Show’s Matt Baker. At the beginning of the programme yesterday, Alex Jones gestured to the empty spot on the sofa next to her and said: ‘Welcome to Tuesday's live The One Show with me Alex Jones and as you can see, look, the sofa is empty. No Matt Baker. Like so many of you, he's working from home today. Matthew, what's going on?’
Matt then appeared from his sofa at home, joined by his pet dog. He said, ‘Yes, well I am at home and this is my (pointing to his dog) Alex Jones for tonight and probably for the next two weeks.’ He added, ‘I kind of expected this to come and feel as ready as we can do. We're more than happy to do our bit and do what's right for everybody, look out for our neighbours.’
And it’s not just TV presenters who are working from home, either. There’s many radio presenters who have had to turn their bedrooms or lounges into studios, including correspondents from the BBC and Radio X, with some presenters such as Scala Radio’s Simon Mayo, even hosting their whole show from home.
The whole world is working out how to move forward. With TV hosts, at least, it's sofa, so good...
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