Why is Whoopi Goldberg missing from The View?

“So rest up and get back here miss, when you feel better,” co-host Joy Behar says

Whoopi Goldberg is missing from The View panel after testing positive for Covid-19 for the second time this year.

Co-host Joy Behar said during the programme on Tuesday that “unfortunately, Whoopi is out with COVID.”

“So rest up and get back here miss, when you feel better,” she said as she took the seat usually occupied by Ms Goldberg.

Fellow co-host Ana Navarro said that Covid-19 is “coming back,” with Ms Behar agreeing: “It’s coming back. Another friend of mine got it, too. I mean, we have to be careful again. Damn”.

She turned to the audience and said, “clap if you had your third booster”.

Viewers noticed that both Ms Behar and Ms Holdberg weren’t present for the show on Monday, surprising fans as the hosts usually take off on days when the other is on the programme.

When Ms Goldberg is out, Ms Behar usually takes the moderator’s seat.

Whoopi Goldberg speaks onstage during the “Till” world premiere Q & A during the 60th New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center on October 01, 2022 in New York City (Getty Images for FLC)

When both of the hosts were out of action, fans were surprised that Sara Haines was put in charge of the programme instead of Sunny Hostin, according to Decider.

Ms Goldberg turned 67 on Sunday 13 November and last appeared on the show on Thursday 10 November, when her birthday was celebrated early.

It’s the second time that Ms Goldberg has tested positive for Covid-19 this year after first catching it in January.

Earlier this year, she appeared on The View from home and told her fellow panellists that it was a “shock” to test positive for Covid-19 as she had received three vaccine shots and she hadn’t “been anywhere” and hadn’t “done anything”.

“It’s one of those things where you think, I’ve done everything I was supposed to do ... Yeah, it doesn’t stop Omicron,” she said at the time of the fast-spreading Covid-variant, according to ABC News.

A spokesperson for the programme told EWthat Ms Goldberg was feeling unwell before the show on Monday, didn’t appear on the programme, and tested positive later in the afternoon.

Ms Navarro and former Republican operative Alyssa Farah Griffin appeared alongside Ms Haines and Ms Hoston on the show on Monday.

On Thursday’s (17 November) programme, Goldberg once again remained absent, with Ms Behar reiterating that the Oscar winner was still sick with Covid.

Co-host Sunny Hostin was also missing, although Ms Behar did not explain why.