Melbourne’s weekend sports presenter took to Instagram to reveal her diagnosis occurring over the Christmas break.
7NEWS Melbourne’s weekend sports presenter Jacqueline Felgate revealed she had tested positive to COVID-19 while on her Christmas holiday break.
Telling the news to her followers on Instagram, Felgate said she has since fully recovered and returned to the newsdesk this past weekend.
She said a number of her followers had been asking her various questions about testing over the break, which she had an abundance of time to answer while in isolation recovering from her own diagnosis.
Felgate confirmed she was double-vaccinated against COVID-19, but was still awaiting eligibility for her booster shot.
“I’m of course double vaxxed with AZ [Astra Zeneca] – but due to the delay for under 40s I wasn’t due for my booster until this week.”
She thanked both the staff at the Alfred Hospital for keeping in frequent contact with her everyday, and her friends for helping her family while she stayed in isolation.
Felgate shared both an unfiltered picture of her waiting in the COVID testing queue in the post, and her back at work on Sunday evening.
Felgate’s revelation of a positive COVID-19 diagnosis comes as another 7NEWS sports presenter, the Sydney bulletin’s Mel McLaughlin, revealed she was the media personality who tested positive to the virus during the Boxing Day Test between Australia and England, plunging a number of Seven’s key commentators into isolation.
The network was forced to implement backup procedures to accommodate the missing presenters, which included Ricky Ponting, Lord Ian Botham, Damien Fleming, James Brayshaw, Tim Lane and Alison Mitchell, as well as McLaughlin and others.
Revealing herself as the mystery commentator to the Daily Telegraph, McLaughlin said she had tested negative in daily tests conducted by Seven leading up to Boxing Day, but after developing a few symptoms later on December 26, she conducted a PCR test.
McLaughlin said:
“I am double-vaxxed, I’d had the booster shot, I was producing negative daily rapid tests and then on Boxing Day night my PCR test was positive and my dream gig of hosting the Boxing Day Test was over.”
After returning the positive test and staying in isolation, her symptoms had worsened.
“I got a bit croaky, runny nose, chills — I was pretty sick for a couple of days.”
Activating their strict COVID measures in this instance, Seven said their number one priority was the health, safety and welfare of all staff and the community.
