Chris Cuomo hosts first show while quarantined in his basement
The CNN journalist worried whether or not he infected his family; says that would have hurt him more than the virus ever could
Chris Cuomo, 49, who is the brother of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, tried to assuage concerns by assuring viewers he is alright and will continue with the self-isolated broadcasts in his home. He also warned them: “You don’t want to get this.”
CNN’s Chris Cuomo, who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, broadcast his show Tuesday night from his basement.
Cuomo, 49, who is the brother of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, tried to assuage concerns by assuring viewers he is alright and will continue with the self-isolated broadcasts in his home. He also warned them: “You don’t want to get this.”
READ MORE: CNN’s Chris Cuomo diagnosed with coronavirus, will broadcast from home
“I tested positive. Scary, yes, as you might imagine. But better me than you,” Cuomo said Monday night, according to The New York Post.
Cuomo also said when he first learned he tested positive for COVID-19, his concern immediately jumped to his family and whether he had infected them. That thought would have hurt him “way more than anything the virus can do,” Cuomo told viewers through an emotional voice.
9am: Test positive for #coronavirus
9pm: Anchor a 1-hour show.
Quite the day for Chris Cuomo.
— Austin Kellerman (@AustinKellerman) April 1, 2020
“So let’s focus, let’s use this example of me having it as proof that you can get it too, god forbid, we have to do everything we can to avoid being sick,” Cuomo said. “We have to do it for ourselves, our families, and for those on the front lines who are saving the lives of people like me and many of you. Together as ever as one. That is our remedy.”
Cuomo also told viewers not to get “caught up in the numbers,” which are growing rapidly. He told them not to fear, but to focus on the fact that more people are getting tested and treated.
“This is a fight, it’s going to get worse, and we’re going to suffer,” Cuomo warned. “And you have to accept that not with fear, but with almost a fanatical sense of passion to fight, because that’s the only way you’ve ever made it through anything hard in your life, and this will be no different.”
Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Cuomo.
