CNN news anchor Brooke Baldwin has tested positive for the coronavirus. She is quarantined at home and feeling well. In a post to Instagram, Baldwin said “it came on suddenly yesterday afternoon. Chills, aches, fever,” but said she’s doing well and has no underlying health conditions. “I’m one of the lucky ones.”
Baldwin said she’d been following social distancing guidelines and being careful to avoid exposure, but still, “it got me.”
Baldwin, who anchors CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwinweekday afternoons from 2-4 p.m. ET, has covered the pandemic extensively, interviewing a New York nurse who created a program called “Hope Huddles” aimed at spreading positivity among stressed and overworked medical staff, and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who urged President Trump to “listen more to the scientists and think less about the political consequences” in handling the nation’s response to the coronavirus.
Earlier in the week, Baldwin’s CNN colleague Chris Cuomo announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus. He’s been hosting his prime time show from his basement, where he’s confined in an effort to avoid spreading the virus to his wife and children. While Cuomo reported feeling strong earlier in the week, he conceded days later that he has struggled to the point where “I can barely do my show,” Cuomo said on Twitter. Cuomo described the illness as “an ugly two weeks,” saying “nights are tough” and reporting that he’s lost 13 pounds in just three days.
Just this week, Baldwin was moved to tears during an interview with Michelle Bennett, who was unable to be at her mother’s side when she died after becoming ill with Covid-19. Bennett was forced to say goodbye to her mother—who had been a nurse for 35 years—over FaceTime. “My heart just grieves for you,” Baldwin said.
In an effort to focus on reaching out to friends and loved ones despite our virus-imposed isolation, Baldwin launched a video series on Instagram asking people to identify their “Corona Crew,” the people they can lean on when they need a lift.
In a video posted as part of the series, Baldwin described having “a minute” on Sixth Avenue where she thought about the people she could lean on during the pandemic “and how we’re all part of this collective we.” In the video, Baldwin talked with two friends, Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger, and they ended the video call by saying “we’re with you sister, be safe.”

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