Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie Open Up About Staying Home from Beijing Olympics

"There's a not-insignificant risk that you pop a positive test while there," says Savannah Guthrie, who was originally set to host NBC's Opening Ceremony coverage live from Beijing before contracting COVID-19 last month

Photo: Hagen Hopkins/NBC/Getty

For the Today team, the Olympics are "almost like summer camp," says Hoda Kotb.

But this year, with the ongoing pandemic and the omicron variant causing disruptions — including intense protocols the Chinese government has implemented for those traveling to Beijing for the Winter Olympic Games — the majority of the team is staying home.

"The pandemic obviously has changed plans in a multitude of ways. This is just another example," says Savannah Guthrie, who was originally set to host NBC's Opening Ceremony coverage live from Beijing, but will now do so remotely from Stamford, Connecticut, Friday, beginning at 6:30 a.m. EST. "Like everything, we've just adjusted."

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They're setting up the "Olympic Plaza" outside the Rockefeller Center studio and will bring athletes through for interviews upon their return to the U.S. Only Craig Melvin, co-host of Today's 9 a.m. hour, will cover the Games in person.

For both Guthrie and Kotb, their recent bouts with COVID at the start of the new year made traveling for the Games a non-starter due to the high likelihood a PCR test might continue to register a positive result.

"That's the reason I can't be there, because I just had COVID way too close in time," says Guthrie. "And there's a not-insignificant risk that you pop a positive test while there, and if you do, that triggers all kinds of protocols that are understandable, so it just didn't make sense for us."

"Normally, this is two weeks where we get to bond and have a great time as a team," Kotb says, "So that part I'm missing, because I love that part. That's the bummer part of it."

There are, however, a few people who are very happy about the turn of events: their kids.

"No one wants to leave their kids behind for two weeks," says Kotb, who is mom to Haley, 4, and Hope, 2.

"My kids are real happy. When I said, 'Mommy does not have to go to China for two weeks,' they were very, very happy," adds Guthrie, who is mom to Vale, 7, and Charley, 5. "The main upside to not going is to get to be with your kids. When we do go, we miss them like crazy, but honestly, I feel like my kids, they really appreciate me for the first 10, 20 minutes I'm home."

Adds Kotb: "When you come home and walk in the door it's like a ticker-tape parade — one that ends quickly!"

To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, visit TeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, beginning Feb 3, and the Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC. To register to cheer on Team USA at the TODAY Plaza at Rockefeller Center head to Today.com.