Just days before announcing that he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Andy Cohen shared that he and his 1-year-old son Benjamin Allen were “hunkered down” at home in an effort to protect themselves from contracting the quickly-spreading respiratory virus.
On Monday’s episode of his SiriusXM radio show, Andy Cohen Live, Cohen said that he was “not letting anyone into my home” and that he wasn’t “having any friends over” to his New York City apartment.
“I’m not going anywhere,” said Cohen, who hosted the show from his home. “I’m just here with the nanny and Ben and we are hunkered down. We have enough food for two weeks.”
The talk show host added that one of his neighbors had been diagnosed with COVID-19, and that he had taken them some provisions.
“I took Ben for a walk yesterday when he woke up from his nap at five. I have a neighbor who has coronavirus and I went out to get them food at the supermarket and some supplies and I left them in front of their door,” Cohen said.
“The person that I know who has it has had terrible, terrible aches and pains and chills for, this has been going on for almost a week,” Cohen added. “They just cannot shake it.”
On Wednesday’s episode of Andy Cohen Live, the radio host shared that he felt a fever coming on while watching television on Tuesday night.
“I said, ‘I think I’m coming down with a fever’ and I was like, ‘Oh no. Oh god. Is it my turn already?’ ” Cohen said.
“And sure enough, I did last night have 99.5 fever and I was just laying there like, ‘Okay, well …’ And I took a Tylenol, which is what you’re supposed to do. And the fever went away and I woke up this morning, no fever. So there you go. There was a fever knocking at my door, it’s not there anymore. I don’t know what to say.”
Cohen went on to say during the episode that he has learned of several people he knows who have tested positive.
“I will say, as I told you, I have a neighbor who has it, I have a friend who has it, there’s someone in my building who just has got it,” he said, adding that an audience member of John Hill’s 54 Below show said they had tested positive. Cohen appeared on the show on March 11.
“I think what we all will be realizing as everyday comes is people we were in contact with last week, it is likely that many of us did come in contact with someone last week who had it and maybe didn’t know it,” Cohen added.
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Cohen added that during another walk with Benjamin, he ran into some emergency medical services professionals in the hallway of his building who told him to only go to the hospital as a “last resort.”
“They said, ‘Just so you know, whatever you do, make the hospital the last resort. If you feel sick, call your doctor, do not go to the hospital,’ ” Cohen recalled. “It seems like the hospitals are already stretched and we’re at the beginning of this. So I thought that was good advice.”
Cohen shared his diagnosis with his Instagram followers on Friday.
“After a few days of self-quarantine, and not feeling great, I have tested positive for Coronavirus,” he wrote in the caption for his post. “As much as I felt like I could push through whatever I was feeling to do #WWHL from home, we’re putting a pin in that for now so I can focus on getting better. I want to thank all the medical professionals who are working tirelessly for all of us, and urge everybody to stay home and take care of themselves.”
Bravo had announced earlier on Friday that Watch What Happens Live would be done in a remote format from Cohen’s apartment, with guests like NeNe Leakes, Jerry O’Connell and Ramona Singer appearing via video chat.
“Just when we thought our show couldn’t get any more low-tech, we’re all homebound,” Cohen said in a statement, promising the “kiki from the couch” would include “at-home show-and-tells and surprises.”
“I’m not sure how this will play out, but I know it’ll be fun,” Cohen said.
Cohen joins a growing list of celebrities who have tested positive for COVID-19, including Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Daniel Dae Kim, Prince Albert II, Sean Payton, Colton Underwood, and more.
As of Friday, there are at least 15,650 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, with 202 deaths from a coronavirus-related illness.
As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from CDC, WHO, and local public health departments and visit our coronavirus hub.
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