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George Stephanopoulos is the latest news anchor to reveal a COVID-19 diagnosis, which he did on Monday’s episode of Good Morning America, two weeks after his wife, Ali Wentworth, shared her diagnosis. Unlike Ali, who was very sick but is recovering and just came out of isolation, George said that he hasn’t experienced any of the typical symptoms. Us Weekly has more:
“I actually feel great,” the Good Morning America anchor, 59, said on the ABC show on Monday, April 13, while working from home. “I’ve never had a fever, never had a cough, never had shortness of breath, never had chills — any of the classic symptoms you’ve been reading about.”
Stephanopoulos told his cohosts Michael Strahan and Robin Roberts that he briefly had lower back pain and a “diminished sense of smell” weeks prior to his diagnosis, but otherwise he has been feeling OK.
“I was taking the test fully expecting it was going to come back negative,” he said. “But, in fact, it did come back positive.”
Ali revealed her diagnosis on April 1 on Instagram.
She wrote:
I have tested positive for the Corona Virus. I’ve never been sicker. High fever. Horrific body aches. Heavy chest. I’m quarantined from my family. This is pure misery. #stayhome
The next day, George shared a video message from Ali during the GMA broadcast:
Sending lots of love this morning to @AliEWentworth and @GStephanopoulos’ family! Ali shares experience with us after testing positive for COVID-19: “You know I’m feverish if I’m allowing myself on national television with no makeup on.” https://t.co/x5IwkW5sfQ pic.twitter.com/wBxAiEs33z
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 2, 2020
Poor Ali. She joked, “You know I’m feverish if I’m allowing myself to go on national television with no makeup on” and that she “finished watching Netflix.” Some of the things that helped her are Tylenol, chicken soup, hot baths when she had the chills, and having her two dogs sleep with her.
George had been taking care of Ali and bringing her food. Their daughters, Elliott, 17, and Harper, 14, were avoiding Ali’s bedroom. George said he was careful in wearing gloves and wiping things down but had not been wearing a mask. “I have to get a little bit close sometimes to take her temperature and do the oxygen test… Usually she takes care of us 24 hours a day, and now we’re doing our best to take care of her.”
I’m not surprised that George ended up getting sick after taking care of Ali, despite being careful. I’ve yet to hear anyone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 say that they “feel great,” but I’m glad that George didn’t get as ill as Ali (or Chris Cuomo).
Last night Ali posted the video below where her family clapped for her when she came out of isolation after 16 days. She wrote that she was grateful for her health and that “It was a brutal and scary time. But I am one of the lucky ones.” She also encouraged everyone to isolate to help protect our healthcare and frontline workers.
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