Chris Cuomo gets emotional about his family after coronavirus diagnosis: 'I can't go hug my kids'

Stephen Proctor
Updated ·3 min read
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On the day same President Trump announced that hundreds of thousands of Americans could die from the coronavirus, CNN’s Chris Cuomo joined the hundreds of thousands already stricken with the illness in this country. Cuomo sent out a tweet earlier in the day announcing that he’d tested positive.

Though he was visibly ill, Cuomo pushed through with Cuomo Prime Time Tuesday night, hosting from his basement, where he addressed the positive diagnosis and the fear he felt for his family.

“I tested positive. Scary, yes, as you might imagine. But better me than you. My concern is what I may have put on my family, just like you would. That is hurting me way more than anything the virus can do,” Cuomo said, later adding, “This is not where you want to be. I mean, look, my basement is great. It’s not going to be hardship, but I can’t go hug my kids. I can’t be with my family. I can’t go out and get anything for them. And I don’t know what’s going to come next.”

And though New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo spent several minutes talking about his brother at a press conference earlier in the day, Chris Cuomo made it clear he doesn’t want the focus to be on him.

“I’m hesitant to talk about me because who cares? This is so small compared to what so many are facing,” Cuomo said. “And we’re gonna all go through this together. You’re going to have stories like mine popping up all over you in your life. You probably do already.”

There was an outpouring of support for Cuomo online.

Cuomo was also getting support from his fellow CNN anchors, like Don Lemon, who tried to bring some levity to the situation.

“Someone asked me today, they said, ‘How’s he doing?’ I said, ‘Fine. I don’t want to speak for him, but the basement is the right place for him,’” Lemon joked. They both laughed as Cuomo responded, “That seems to be the consensus. You can come and look at me through the glass. I’ll be here for a couple of weeks.”

But later, when wrapping up an interview with Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, Lemon could no longer keep a brave face.

“Hey, give Chris our best,” Durkan said. “We’re all rooting for him, and thank you, Don.”

Lemon hesitated and kept himself from crying before responding. “Thank you,” Lemon said. “I said I wasn’t going to do this. Thank you very much. Thank you. That’s my guy. You know that.”

Cuomo Prime Time airs weeknights at 9 p.m. on CNN.

Watch Demi Lovato urge all of us to focus on mental health during the coronavirus quarantine:

For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC and WHO’s resource guides.

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