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Chris Cuomo and Cristina Greeven Cuomo’s 14-year-old son Mario, who was named after the late New York Governor Mario Cuomo, has tested positive for coronavirus. In an Instagram post on April 22, the CNN host’s wife revealed the news just days after the couple has been COVID-19 free. “After 10 days of ups and downs, feeling good one-day and terrible the next, I am now working hard to get my son, Mario, through the virus,” the Purist founder wrote on Instagram. “My heart hurts more than my head over his infection. This virus does not discriminate. While kids are more resilient, they can suffer same severity of symptoms.”
Similar to how she nursed her husband of 18 years and herself back to health, Cristina is applying a modified version of her remedies for their son by incorporating lots of added vitamins. “Since his sense of smell and taste have disappeared, I am feeding him healthy foods that I normally can’t get him to touch,” she continued. “I kept a diary of the past week including my remedies and things that I did to stay sane through it all.”
During his afternoon walk on the same day, Chris shared with his followers in an Instagram Story, “Mario has same symptoms as his mom. Little trouble at night with sinus pressure…we are very lucky.” Before the teen’s confirmed diagnosis, the mom-of-three gave Extra’s Billy Bush an update on how their family is doing. “The anxiety of passing it along to family members is really intense, and it also shows you the longevity of this virus,” she said on the Tuesday broadcast. “Here we are, 30 days into it, and no sign of re-entry for us yet, and it’s debilitating. It can be emotionally debilitating.”
Along with her news of Mario, Cristina encouraged her followers to take a moment and show kindness to one another. “On this 50th anniversary of Earth Day, show kindness toward our planet and every creature who inhabits it, as the transcendent photographer, adventurer, preservationist and raconteur Peter Beard advised us,” the 50-year-old wrote. “My old friend’s recent death offers an eerily timely punctuation on this virus and a reminder that we can’t forget to protect one another, and the animals that roam the Earth. This virus has created a different version of me. My hope is to be stronger, healthier and smarter about the virus at large.”
As for how it’s affecting their children Bella, 17, 11-year-old Carolina and Mario, Chris had shared in an earlier show that they have really been stepping up to care for the two of them when they were down for the count. “Bella, Mario and Carolina have grown up overnight—Bella, our 17-year-old daughter, stepped up cleaning, doing laundry, cooking for her siblings and getting them situated with google classroom, and caregiving her mother and father,” Cristina wrote in an earlier post about her own diagnosis. “Mario, her assistant. So much gratitude for them. I can’t wait to wrap my arms around them again.”
Chris’ positive test came back on March 30, and it was only on April 21 that he was able to leave quarantine to reunite with his family. As for his wife, Cristina’s diagnosis was shared during his April 15th show, and she had a much quicker turnaround time.