OH: NBC Contributor Reveals He Never Had Coronavirus After Network Documented His Recovery.

After believing he had the coronavirus in spite of getting negative tests, virologist and NBC News science contributor Dr. Joseph Fair tweeted Tuesday that he had tested negative for the antibodies and that the illness that hospitalized him in May “remains an undiagnosed mystery.” Steve Krakauer reported on the developments for his Fourth Watch newsletter.

Fair appeared on Today from a New Orleans hospital bed in May 14, where he speculated he got the virus through his eyes while on a packed flight two weeks earlier. This happened, he said, despite taking precautions like wearing a mask and gloves.

Today host Hoda Kotb noted during the interview that Fair had received four negative tests for the virus but said, “clearly you have it.” Fellow host Craig Melvin called Fair’s “false negative” tests “scary,” and cohost Savannah Guthrie called it a “cautionary tale.”

Fair took precautions, wasn’t in a risk group for hospitalization, and tested negative a number of times. Nevertheless, he insisted he had it and his credulous coworkers at NBC News took his claim without so much as a grain of salt.