NBC News Employee Dies After Testing Positive

NBC's Larry Edgeworth has died of complications from the coronavirus. (Courtesy of NBC)

An NBC News employee died after testing positive for the CCP virus, the head of the broadcaster’s news department announced Friday.

Larry Edgeworth was a technician who worked in the NBCUniversal’s 30 Rock studio equipment room in New York City. He was 61. His wife, Crystal, told NBC that Edgeworth also suffered from other health problems before contracting the CCP virus.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

In a statement to staffers, NBC News chief Andrew Lack confirmed his death.

“I’m deeply saddened to tell you that we’ve lost a longtime member of our NBC News family – Larry Edgeworth passed away yesterday,” Lack wrote, according to Deadline Hollywood.

Lack said, “Larry most recently worked in the equipment room on the fifth floor, but prior to that he spent most of his 25 years at NBC News as a skilled audio technician, often traveling to the most remote locations. 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.”

He added that Stacy Brady, executive vice president of production operations, “Says he was known as the ‘gentle giant who would give you the shirt off his back.'”

“Larry was a gentle bear of a man, the heart and soul of our extended NBC family,” Andrea Mitchell, NBC News’ chief foreign affairs correspondent, said in a statement about his death. “I was always cheered and reassured knowing he was on the team in the field. He always had my back whether here in the U.S. or in the most dangerous situations around the world.”

And “Today” host Savannah Guthrie wrote that her heart broke after hearing about his diagnosis and death. “I adored Larry,” she wrote. “We traveled together for two straight months on a campaign in 2008 and he was always the most warm, most professional, most loving. All hours of the day and night, no matter how hungry or tired or stressed we were - he was always a joy.”

According to a statement from NBC, he is survived by his wife and two sons.

The number of virus cases in New York City rose from 3,615 to around 4,000 on Friday, and the death toll rose from 22 to 26, according to officials. Mayor Bill de Blasio made the announcement on Friday morning.