CNN host Chris Cuomo says he has tested positive for coronavirus.
“Sooooo in these difficult times that seem to get more difficult and complicated by the day, I just found out that I am positive for coronavirus,” he said in a statement posted to Twitter on Tuesday, March 31, 2020. “I have been exposed to people in recent days who have subsequently tested positive and I had fever, chills and shortness of breath.”
Cuomo says he’s quarantined in his basement and will continue airing his CNN show, Cuomo Prime Time, from there.
“I just hope I didn’t give it to the kids and Cristina,” Cuomo continued of his children and wife. “That would make me feel worse than this illness!”
The CNN host has become a reliably entertaining interviewer since coronavirus coverage blanketed television news stations this month, with the virus virtually halting daily American life.
Most notably, Cuomo has gone viral for his charming interviews with his brother, New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo, throughout the pandemic.
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) March 31, 2020
The two brothers, who are the sons of former three-term New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, have jokingly bickered back and forth about family issues, like who abided by curfew as a kid and which brother would win in a basketball game.
The moments have shown Gov. Cuomo taking a brief moment of breath in a time of crisis, as New York rapidly became the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak here in the United States.
“Thank you for coming back to the show,” Chris said in one recent segment.
“Mom told me I had to,” his brother quipped back.
There have been more than 163,000 confirmed cases of the virus in the U.S., while more than 3,000 have died due to complications related to the virus, according to a New York Times tracker.
CNN says that Cuomo was “most recently at CNN’s offices in the Hudson Yards neighborhood of New York City last Friday” and that the anchor’s diagnosis is the third positive case of the virus involving the CNN workspace in New York City.
The network says employees were notified of another case in mid-March.
Gov. Cuomo addressed the news that his brother tested positive for the virus during his daily press conference on Monday.
“Everyone is subject to this virus,” the governor said. “It is the great equalizer. I don’t care how smart, how rich, how powerful you think you are. I don’t care how young, how old. My brother Chris is positive for coronavirus, we found out this morning. Now, he’s going to be fine. He’s young, in good shape, strong — not as strong as he thinks — but he will be fine.”
NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo says his brother, Chris Cuomo, was tested positive with coronavirus:
“He's a really sweet, beautiful guy, and he is my best friend” https://t.co/GhuTW6b2DC pic.twitter.com/BnBNBWeJ0m
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 31, 2020
Read more at People.
