The CNN newsman opened up about what he's learned when it comes to fighting coronavirus.
Chris Cuomo is sharing a health update with his viewers, including photos of his chest X-rays.
The CNN newsman got candid with viewers during Monday's episode of Cuomo Prime Time, when he was joined by fellow CNN journalist Dr. Sanjay Gupta and revealed some telling X-rays he recently had taken of his lungs.
When asked how he's feeling after a week of intense fever and pain, Cuomo shared, "I feel better than I deserve."
"This weekend I had the fever start to go down a little bit, and I felt it start to come into my chest," Cuomo said, explaining why he decided to get chest x-rays taken in the first place. Sharing the black-and-white look at his lungs, Gupta said the tests could have been worse.
"It looks pretty good," said Gupta. "Maybe a little bit of fluid but not something I would definitively call pneumonia."
Pneumonia, for many people, is one of the most dangerous side-effects of COVID-19, which is why Cuomo has been to active in getting examined. And, despite the fact that the results are likely good news, for the time being, he said the entire process of getting examined was still unnerving.
"I have to tell you it is scary to have your lungs go up there and see that stuff and be like, 'What is that? What is that smoke in there?' And they tell you that's the virus," Cuomo said, referring to the X-rays. "You have to fight to keep it out. I don't have pneumonia. But if I want to stay that way, I got to have some things fall in my favor."
The CNN newsman also had a message of gratitude for his viewers and fans at the start of Monday's episode, sharing, "Personally, you have helped me heal in ways big and small. I will never be able to thank you enough."
"Our way through this remains one way: Together, as ever, as one," he added.
Cuomo, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 last Tuesday, went on to note the increasing severity of the coronavirus outbreak ravaging the country and the need for an increased, more aggressive response to the problem.
"It's not about the politics. If we don't have better detection, we will always be behind. And for the growing number of us that are going to face the beast, it doesn't just pass. It progresses," Cuomo said, somberly.
He explained that, when it comes to being infected, "It's weeks, not days. It's chronic and humbling. Your only chance is not catching it."
Cuomo also reflected on some lessons he's learned firsthand when it comes to fighting the coronavirus.
The CNN anchor said he found that the way to overcome the illness was not letting it keep you bed-bound and staying as active as your body will allow.
"When the fever spikes, you want to curl up in a ball and stay there for the next six or seven hours and you can't. You've got to bundle up your clothes on and drown yourself in fluids and take Tylenol," he shared. "You've got to force yourself to breathe, force yourself to get off your a** and walk around. It hurts. Everything in your body is telling you not to do it."
"The more I do, the more I push myself to do, the better I'm getting," he added. "So, I'm going to take faith in that for now. I'm not through it, but that's good [to remember]."
Last Thursday, Cuomo shared an update with fans and explained the extent of how bad his fever has been while battling COVID-19.
"I've lost 13 pounds in three days," Cuomo revealed. "Now, I'm a big guy, I started off at 230 pounds... [but] I'm eating and drinking constantly. I'm just sweating it out, and it's just the sickness."
He also explained how his symptoms, particularly his fever, seem to get worse as the day wears on.
"The beast comes at night," Cuomo said. "My fever has gone up a couple of degrees in like the last 30 minutes. Nights are tough."
Cuomo is working out of his basement, where he is still in quarantine to stay separated from his wife and their children. He has previously shared that his fever has been as high as 103, which even led to hallucinations.
"I was shivering so much... I chipped my tooth. I was up all night. I was hallucinating. My dad was talking to me," added Cuomo, whose late father, Mario Cuomo, died in 2015. "I was seeing people from college, people I haven't seen in forever. It was freaky what I lived through last night, and it might happen again tonight. Doctors said it could happen, like, five or eight times."
Recently, ET's Kevin Frazier spoke with several TV journalists and anchors about the coronavirus outbreak, and celebrated newswoman Robin Roberts opened up about the added fear and anxiety being a cancer survivor, and therefore at higher risk due to a compromised immune system.
"In all honesty, it does weigh on you when you know that you have an underlying condition, when you know that you're immune system is not up to par to be able to fight it off as well as somebody else's," Roberts shared.
She is therefore taking every precaution in an effort to avoid contracting the virus, and she shared some kind words for Frazier as well regarding Entertainment Tonight's handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
"What you all are doing as well at Entertainment Tonight, it's something that we look to. And how you have adapted to the times, seeing you there at home, it really sends a strong message to people that this is something to be taken seriously," said Roberts. "No one is enjoying covering this story, but it's necessary."
See the video below to hear more.
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