Oprah Winfrey won’t travel to New York for the rest of the year.
The media mogul is taking extra precations to protect her health amid the coronavirus pandemic and even if social distancing restrictions are lifted, the ‘Wrinkle in Time’ star won’t be visiting the Big Apple, which has been one of the cities hit hardest by the virus, for several months.
Asked about plans for the 20th anniversary of O, The Oprah Magazine, Gayle King, who is editor-at-large of the publication, explained her best friend Oprah had told her she is "not really comfortable coming to New York for the rest of this year."
She added to ‘Entertainment Tonight’: "She had pneumonia, as you know in January, and she still has a bit of a bronchial thing that she’s concerned about.
"So I said, ‘How can we have a party, an anniversary party, without the O of O?’ And she said, ‘You don’t!’"
Gayle is currently self-isolating in New York, where the magazine is based, while Oprah is at home in Santa Barbara, California.
The 65-year-old star admitted: "I have no idea when we’ll be able to see each other again."
Last month, Oprah’s long-term partner Stedman Graham moved to the guesthouse in the grounds of their home for two weeks as a precautionary measure after returning from a work trip.
The 66-year-old star revealed at the time: "Stedman is at the guest house. You all know I had pneumonia late last year and you can still hear the raspiness in my throat sometimes.
"And I just got off antibiotics last week and so Stedman was late to the party. Stedman didn’t arrive from Chicago until Thursday and he was speaking in St. Louis on Saturday and he’s been on planes."
Oprah had insisted it was important to take action before Stedman returned home from his trip.
She said: "[He] was like, ‘What’s the procedure for coming home?’ And I was like, ‘You ain’t coming in here and sleeping in my bed. It doesn’t work that way… Social distancing doesn’t mean you can go sleep in a bed with someone after you got off American Airlines.’ We can not play those games."
Oprah Winfrey rules out New York travel
