Chris Cuomo’s biggest fear has come true –his wife Cristina Greeven Cuomo has tested positive for coronavirus a little over two weeks after his own diagnosis. The news was announced on Chris’ CNN Cuomo Prime Time show on April 15 during an interview he was conducting with his big brother Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York. “Cristina now has COVID; she is now positive,” he said. “It just breaks my heart. It is the one thing I was hoping wouldn’t happen and now it has.”
© GettyImagesUp until this point, the 50-year-old magazine editor, whose symptoms appear to be on the milder side with loss of taste and smell, had been taking care of her husband, who has been quarantined in their basement, and giving updates on his health on her Instagram account. Her last post on April 13 revealed it was day 18 of his own battle with the virus. Throughout, the Purist editor-in-chief has been making sure to give him “good foods, dr. Linda’s herbs + homeopathy and lots of vitamins necessary for this time + non-toxic quinine (Cinchona Officialis –Peruvian Bark) to combat the oxygen-eating virus.”
Cristina also made sure to give Chris a “stress-free diet (that isn’t taxing on the liver and doesn’t consume energy).” Some of the meals included cooked foods like soup, lentil, chicken, legumes + vegetables, and she avoided raw foods since those take a lot of energy to break down. Acknowledging that “food is medicine,” she also noted: “This is a virus of isolation, so one of the best remedies for any illness is simply [heart emoji] + humor.”
And you can certainly count on the Cuomo brothers to deliver the jokes even during these serious times. While noting that this seemed inevitable as is the case with most families because of the close quarters and taking care of each other, Governor Cuomo was relieved it was Cristina and not one of their three kids, Bella, 17, Mario, 14, and 11-year-old Carolina. “This is what families are dealing with,” he said. “The good news is that to the extent is that Cristina is going to blame you for this; there are a lot of other things we know that she can blame you for so this is probably number 17 on the list.”
© @cristinacuomoWith Chris still recovering in the basement, and now his wife down for the count, the 49-year-old journalist said his kids have been stepping up. “Mom is the core. When Mom goes down, you feel it…,” he said during his show. “They’re more quiet. They’re focused on her and hopefully it makes the family stronger.”
Chris and his wife are not the only couple in media to be dealing with this. ABC’s George Stephanopoulos recently contracted the virus from wife Ali Wentworth. NBC’s Kate Snow has also been taking care of her husband who had also been diagnosed.
