Chris Cuomo's 1st Day Out Of Coronavirus Isolation Was Tougher Than He Expected

CNN host Chris Cuomo emerged from his basement on Monday to rejoin his family as he recovers from the coronavirus infection he’s been battling for three weeks.

“This is what I’ve been dreaming of, literally, for weeks,” he said after he was cleared to end his self-isolation. “Just to be back up here, doing normal things.”

But the day wasn’t as easy as he had hoped.

First, he cracked that his family wasn’t exactly thrilled as he rejoined them and referenced this headline from the parody site The Onion:

“This has spooked the family,” he said. “We’re spooked by this.” 

Cuomo said his wife, Cristina , who was also diagnosed with COVID-19, now meets CDC guidelines for being with the family. 

However, he said the dual illness hasn’t been easy on their household.

“There’s a little bit of a trauma, and a recovery process, that we’re going to have to go through,” he said. 

But he said, although he’s no longer sick, it’s clear he still has a long road ahead, telling CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta that he struggled with the exercises he’s supposed to do now. 

“I could barely breathe doing a walk for 25 minutes,” he said. “I felt like I was exhausted.” 

He said he also felt pain using exercise bands. 

“This really knocks people sideways in a way that’ll take weeks,” he said, but he added that he’s a “lucky guy” to come through the infection. 

See more of his conversation with Gupta below: