CNN's Cuomo, with coronavirus, completes show from basement

A bleary-eyed Chris Cuomo, saying he wished to be a cautionary tale for his audience, anchored his CNN show from his basement Tuesday after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Via remote link, he interviewed Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, an emergency room nurse and CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who expressed worry about one of Cuomo's symptoms.

"Grit your teeth," Cuomo told viewers, "not for a hoax. But also for the next couple of weeks of scary and painful realities. This is a fight. It will get worse. We will suffer."

Cuomo looked pale, his eyes watery and red-rimmed. He took a few deep breaths to compose himself. He repeated himself. Even Gupta said he didn't look good, and said he'd call later to discuss a tightness Cuomo was feeling in his chest.

The 49-year-old newsman, whose brother, NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has logged as much tv set airtime lately with daily briefings how the disease has effects on his state, said earlier that he knew it had been a matter of time because of how often he was subjected to people. He said he's staying in the basement of his Long Island home to safeguard himself from his wife and children.

THE BRAND NEW York governor, who appeared with his brother on CNN by remote link the night time before, also used the non-public story to warn others during his press briefing Tuesday. He noted that he previously scolded Chris for having their 88-year-old mother, Matilda, visiting Chris' home fourteen days ago.

"It's my children, it's your loved ones, it's our families," he said. "This virus is indeed insidious, and we have to keep that at heart."

Chris Cuomo said he thought his mom would be safer at his house than in her NEW YORK apartment, but his brother persuaded him to have her stay at his sister's place in Westchester County.

Some competitors, including Sean Hannity and Geraldo Rivera of Fox News Channel, and Joy Reid and Ali Velshi of MSNBC, sent best wishes to Cuomo through social media Tuesday.

He said he appreciated the sympathy from well-wishers but tried to deflect it.

"Hopefully, I'll be in a position to keep doing the show," he said. "But who knows?"

One of the most unsettling things about the condition, he said, is hearing from doctors that there really isn't much he can do now except "suck it up."

"The best medicine is not to obtain it - prevention," he said in a pre-show discussion with colleague Anderson Cooper.

Most persons who get the virus have mild to moderate symptoms and recover. But for older people, and the ones with underlying medical ailments, the disease can be dangerous. A lot more than 3,000 persons have died in the U.S. alone.

Andrew Cuomo, 62, and the CNN anchor are sons of the late New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, and that teasing big brother-little brother dynamic often enlivens their appearances together. The governor called him his best friend.

"He is likely to be fine," he said. "He's young, in good shape, strong - much less strong as he thinks he's, but he will be fine."

Chris got a way of measuring revenge Tuesday night, referring to his brother as "Captain Banana Hands."