CNN host Chris Cuomo, who tested positive this week for coronavirus, revealed Wednesday night that his fever got so bad he hallucinated seeing his late father. Cuomo, the younger brother of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, has been self-isolating his basement to avoid infecting his wife and kids.
The 49-year-old shared his experience battling coronavirus — from body aches and shivering to a fever so severe he was hallucinating.
“Never had anything like it,” Cuomo said in his opening remarks on his show, “Cuomo Prime Time.” “I totally get why so many are so scared all over this country.”
His 103-degree fever felt “like somebody was beating me like a piñata,” he said, adding that he shivered so much that he chipped a tooth.
The symptoms took a troubling turn overnight Tuesday, Cuomo said, when he saw a vision of his father, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, who died in 2015.
“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, and it may happen again tonight.”
Ribbing between the Cuomo brothers has been among the memorable stories during the coronavirus pandemic. While showing an unflattering photo of his brother, Governor Cuomo praised him during a news conference for hosting his show despite his diagnosis. The younger Cuomo later responded on his show.
“What am I going to do, sit around all day and watch that there’s not the right information being given still?” Cuomo told his viewers. “That we’re letting states make choices about whether or not they do they do the only single thing that can make a difference? Nobody can sit on the sidelines right now — least of all somebody who’s been blessed with a platform to talk to you about it.”
“I’m lucky,” he added. “No matter how my journey goes with coronavirus. I want you to think about everybody who isn’t as lucky as I am who are dealing with this thing and ten times worse, especially after what I learned last night.”
