CNN Anchor Chris Cuomo, who tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday (March 31), is opening up about the serious symptoms he’s been experiencing while self-isolating in the basement of their home.
The veteran journalist is still working from home and during his Wednesday (April 1) broadcast, he told Dr. Sanjay Gupta about the how bad his symptoms were getting.
“This virus came at me — I’ve never seen anything like it, OK?” he shared. “So, I’ve had a fever, you’ve had a fever, right? But 102, 103, 103-plus, that wouldn’t quit. It was like somebody was beating me like a pinata.”
“I was shivering so much … I chipped my tooth,” Chris recounted his experience on Tuesday night. “These are not cheap, OK? They call them the rigors, like rigors, r-i-g-o-r-s. But rigors. So, the sun comes up. I was up all night. I tell you, I was hallucinating. 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, and it might happen again tonight. Doctors said it could happen, like, five or eight times.”
“You know, I get it now,” he continued. “And if you match that with chest constriction, people can’t breathe, I totally get why we’re losing so many people and hospitals are so crowded.”
Fortunately, his wife and three children have not caught the virus – their tests came out negative.
“My biggest fear was passing this on to Cristina and the kids,” he said. “Even though I feel way worse than I did yesterday in terms of symptoms, it’s been a great day. They’re negative and that is the best thing I’ve ever heard.”
On Thursday (April 2), he joined Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta for a CNN Town Hall special. During the broadcast, he revealed how much COVID-19 has impacted his body.
“I’ve lost 13 pounds in three days,” Chris revealed. “Now, I’m a big guy, I started off at 230 pounds…. [but] I’m eating and drinking constantly. I’m just sweating it out, and it’s just the sickness.”
He also told them how his fever would get worse during night time.
“The beast comes at night,” he said. “My fever has gone up a couple of degrees in like the last 30 minutes. Nights are tough.”
“It is responsible journalism to say that 80 percent of people who get this, statistically, wind up OK, meaning they don’t get a hospital, they get through it,” Chris continued. “It is not humanly responsible, though, from an ethical perspective.”
And for anyone who’s still underestimating the effects of the coronavirus, he says, “You suffer when you have this at home, unless you are ridiculously lucky, statistically, and maybe karmically as well.”
As for what has worked for him in dealing with the symptoms, he shares, “Chicken soup is not just anecdotal. That has worked for me, I believe.”
He said he’s also been “counseled to try to endure fever as much as I can, because the fever is the body’s fighting mechanism.”
He also cautions about the coronavirus “cures” going around the internet.
“I’ve also learned there is so much BS on the internet that are being sold as cures. Fake pills, fake tonics… I think we have to be very careful about people preying on desperation,” he said.
According to the World Health Organization, “To date, there is no vaccine and no specific antiviral medicine to prevent or treat COVID-2019” and that “Possible vaccines and some specific drug treatments are under investigation. They are being tested through clinical trials. WHO is coordinating efforts to develop vaccines and medicines to prevent and treat COVID-19.”
For now, they advise that those affected should receive care to relieve symptoms. People with serious illness should be hospitalized. Most patients recover thanks to supportive care.
They also share guidelines to protect yourself and others against COVID-19, which includes frequently clean your hands, cover your cough with the bend of elbow or tissue, and maintain a distance of at least 1 meter (3 feet) from people who are coughing or sneezing.
The World Health Organization provides answers to frequently asked question about COVID-19 on their website.
