‘Young And The Restless’ Actor FIRED For Breaking COVID Policy

“The Young and the Restless” actor Richard Burgi was fired from the CBS daytime drama for accidentally breaking COVID-19 policy.

In an Instagram Story, the 63-year-old actor admitted that he “naively and inadvertently violated the show’s COVID policy” by following the CDC’s five-day isolation policy. Although the CDC recommends that those who are vaccinated and boosted isolate for five days after testing positive for the virus, the long-running soap opera has a policy that cast members must isolate for ten days.

“I feel terrible about it,” Burgi said on his Instagram Story. “I still do. It bothers me mightily but it is what it is. I respect whatever the show’s decision is. They’re doing the best they can, as they all are.”

Burgi explained that he had been “back East” visiting family members over the holiday break. He said that he tested positive for COVID-19 around Christmastime. After testing positive, Burgi says that he “took the necessary five days the CDC had recommended, came back, and then tested twice negatively at the studio… and showed up to work, but was not within the show’s guidelines, which is a 10-day protocol. So I inadvertently violated the show’s Covid rules and protocols.”

After breaking COVID-19 protocols, the show immediately let the actor go and replaced his character of Ashland Locke with “Guiding Light” actor Robert Newman.

“I truly wish the gentleman who’s coming in to play Ashland a wonderful time,” Burgi said. “He’s going to be working with the most incredible actress and a great, great cast. It’s an amazing show, I have nothing but good memories and good wishes for it.”

However, many fans were upset to hear that Burgi would be leaving the show due to an honest mistake.

In late December, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) revised its guidelines on the amount of time that people need to isolate after testing positive for the virus.

In the past, people who had tested positive for COVID-19 were told to self-isolate for ten days. That number has now been reduced from ten days to only five days, although some businesses, like the entertainment industry, still have set the isolation period to ten days for their employees out of an abundance of caution.

The isolation day starts on a day that a person receives a positive test result. After isolating for five days, the CDC says that a person is able to return to their normal activities, like work or school, if they do not show any symptoms. If a person does have symptoms, they are encouraged to continue to remain in isolation for the safety of the general public.

The isolation rules work a little differently if someone tests positive for COVID-19. In the past, the CDC recommended that unvaccinated people isolate for ten days and that people who were vaccinated did not have to quarantine at all. The CDC revised its guidelines on that position in late December.

According to the new guidelines, if a person who is unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, or vaccinated but not boosted, is exposed to someone who tests positive for COVID-19, they must isolate for only five days. If a person does not show any symptoms, then they are allowed to return to work or school after five days. However, the CDC encourages those to continue to wear a mask in public for five more days, even if that individual does not have any symptoms.

If someone is vaccinated and boosted, then they do not need to isolate if they are exposed to a person who had tested positive for COVID-19. However, the CDC does ask for that individual to wear a mask in public for at least ten days to help contain the spread of the virus.

Although these are the current COVID-19 guidelines as recommended by the CDC, several businesses and industries have their own COVID-19 policies… as Burgi found out the hard way!