‘Like somebody was beating me like a piñata’: Chris Cuomo describes coronavirus battle
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo on Wednesday described the punishing night he endured hours after being diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, warning of the disease’s symptoms in sobering terms.
“This virus came at me — I’ve never seen anything like it, OK?” Cuomo, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, told viewers during his broadcast.
The host said he experienced intense rigors and was “shivering so much” that he chipped a tooth and registered a fever of “102, 103, 103-plus” degrees. “It was like somebody was beating me like a piñata,” he said.
Cuomo also said he had a series of hallucinations, including a vision of his late father, former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, who died in 2015.
“I was up all night. I’m telling you, I was hallucinating,” he said. “My dad was talking to me. I was seeing people from college. People I haven’t seen in forever. It was freaky, what I lived through last night.”
Despite his condition, Cuomo has continued hosting his hourlong weeknight news program on CNN, “Cuomo Prime Time,” from his basement, offering a rare window into the effects of the illness rampaging across the country.
More than 217,000 Americans had contracted Covid-19 — the disease caused by the novel coronavirus — as of Thursday afternoon, and at least 5,151 have died as a result of the disease. Because of limited testing capacity, experts agree the actual number of positive cases is much greater.
But apart from written accounts produced by patients or media outlets, the physical toll of the coronavirus has remained at least somewhat elusive to many Americans, as footage from overwhelmed hospitals is limited.
Cuomo’s brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is coordinating his state’s response as the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S. and has begun discussing his younger sibling’s condition during his daily news conferences.
Although data suggests Chris’ case will likely self-resolve, his diagnosis still “frightened me,” Andrew told reporters on Wednesday, lamenting that “I couldn’t protect my own brother” and “he couldn’t protect himself.”
“I’m worried about my brother, as everyone is worried about everyone in their family and everybody they love,” Andrew said. “I take solace in the numbers and the facts because you can’t divorce yourself from the facts. Otherwise, you go to a place of irrationality. But we’re emotional beings.”
On Wednesday night, Chris appeared to receive a phone call from Andrew in the middle of an interview with CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, but sent the governor to voicemail. The brothers have gained popularity on social media in recent days for their on-air banter and gentle ribbing.
“Sorry, that’s Andrew,” Chris said, silencing his phone. “I’ll talk to him later. Pest.”
On Thursday, Chris appeared via livestream during Andrew’s news conference to update his brother on his health and reveal another hallucination he had on Tuesday night.
“It was like out of a movie, I will tell you. I had hallucinations I was seeing Pop,” Chris said. “You came to me in a dream. You had on a very interesting ballet outfit, and you were dancing in the dream, and you were waving a wand and saying, ‘I wish I could wave my wand and make this go away.’ And then you spun around, and you danced away.”
Andrew remarked of Chris that “you look good, you sound good,” and said he would refrain from teasing him given the seriousness of Chris’ condition. “You know, rule one is never hit a brother when he’s down, and you’re literally in the basement,” he said.
The governor went on to thank his brother for performing what he called a “great public service, in an ironic way” and “answering questions for millions of Americans.”
“You living it, showing it, doing it, doing the show, reporting on how you feel, reporting on what you’re doing, I think it really takes — it demystifies this,” Andrew said. “It takes a lot of the unknown out of the equation.”
Chris said that going forward, “I won’t do the show all the time,” but only host “whenever I can,” acknowledging: “I know that I have to take care of myself.”
“People have been very nice in saying, ‘Don’t work too much because you don’t want to compromise fighting the virus,’” he said. “They are right. You are right to say that, as well, and I hear all the advice.”
Rep. Ben McAdams (D-Utah), another high-profile Covid-19 patient, also recounted his battle with the disease on Thursday morning, telling NBC’s “Today” show that he was finally “virus-free” after being hospitalized.
“I found myself in the hospital for eight days and just had trouble breathing, couldn’t keep my oxygen levels up, and it hit me really, really hard. And so it’s good to be back on my feet right now,” he said.
McAdams, who became one of the first members of Congress to test positive two weeks ago, added that his sickness “was quite an ordeal” and said that while he is “probably not quite 100 percent” well, he is “doing so much better right now.”
