CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, who late last month revealed he had tested positive for coronavirus, has announced his wife Cristina has also been infected with the illness.
Chris made the announcement from his family home on Wednesday night during a live interview with his brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
‘It’s very rare for a family to be one-and-done,’ the 49-year-old father-of-three said on his show, Cuomo Prime Time. ‘And Cristina now has COVID. She is now positive, and it just breaks my heart. It is the one thing I was hoping wouldn’t happen, and now it has.’
Magazine editor Cristina, 50, has been posting regular updates about her husband’s condition on Instagram. The couple had been quarantining separately since Chris’ diagnosis two weeks ago, with him staying in the basement and Cristina staying with the children upstairs.
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, who late last month revealed he had tested positive for coronavirus, has announced his wife Cristina (pictured with Chris) has also been infected with the illness
Chris made the announcement from his family home on Wednesday night during a live interview with his brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Cristina is said to have taken the diagnosis in her stride and is ‘not upset’ by it, though a concerned Chris admitted to ‘being a bit of a mess about it’ all.
According to her husband, Cristina’s symptoms include a loss of smell and taste, which Chris said that, based on anectodal evidence, appeared to be more common in milder cases of the illness.
Chris’ side-effects, meanwhile, were said to be more severe, including a fever so extreme that he chipped a tooth while shivering.
Noticing his brother’s emotional state, Andrew Cuomo attempted to provide comfort to his sibling younger, reassuring him that ‘it’s very hard for people to quarantine in a home and other people not to get.’
‘In some ways this was inevitable,’ Andrew Cuomo continued. ‘Luckily it was Cristina and not one of the kids.
‘This is what families are dealing with, right? The point of you communicating this, rather than just taking a few weeks off is you communicating with Americans what this is like – and this is what it’s like.
‘One person gets the virus and other people in the home get the virus. You know have a mother and father with the virus, you have three kids you have to take care of. This gets complicated very fast,’ Andrew Cuomo continued.
‘The good news,’ Andrew continued, attempted to lift the sombre mood with some brotherly banter, ‘is Cristina is probably going to look to blame you for this – there’s a lot of other things she can blame you for, so this will probably be number 17 on the list. So I wouldn’t worry about it.
‘I know it makes a bad situation worse,’ he added, but ‘it’s all going to be fine.’
Noticing his brother’s emotional state, Andrew Cuomo attempted to provide comfort to his sibling younger, reassuring him that ‘it’s very hard for people to quarantine in a home and other people not to get it’
Despite the couple’s successive health setbacks, their three children, however, have ‘stepped up’ and are ‘helping each other’, according to Chris.
‘Mom is the core. When mom goes down, you feel it…,’ he said. ‘They’re more quiet. They’re focused on her and hopefully it makes the family stronger.’
In a post on Twitter later in the evening, Chris elaborated that his Children are all fine and have not exhibited any symptoms of COVID-19.
‘Kids are still healthy but this shook us at our literal core,’ he said. ‘All are stepping up. Can’t wait to shake this fever so I can help her as she helped me. Sucks.’
Chris Cuomo first announced his coronavirus diagnosis at the end of March. He said he was feeling well enough to work and his continued to anchor his 9pm CNN slot from home.
Chris Cuomo first announced his coronavirus diagnosis at the end of March. He said he was feeling well enough to work and his continued to anchor his 9pm CNN slot from home
During an interview on the segment the night before, Chris told De. Sanjay Gupta that he had attempted to take himself off Tylenol – which he’d been taking for his fever – for 72 hours, but ended up developing a 101 degree temperature after just 60 hours.
‘I have to be honest, I got a little cocky,’ Chris said Tuesday. ‘I started thinking about, ‘Oh great, I want to get retested and then I’m going to do this and I’m going to do that and I’m going to do this.’ Not the way COVID works… It comes in waves.’
And on Monday night, Chris voiced frustration at his seeming inability to shift the virus, despite some of his symptoms improving.
‘I’m scared by this. I’m scared by the potential of this and it frustrates me because I can’t get out of this basement,’ he said Monday. ‘Everybody tells me it’s gradual, it takes time – anywhere from two to three-and-a-half weeks, but it is maddening to have this little, stupid fever.’