Andy Cohen and his 1-year-old son Benjamin Allen had a sweet reunion on Monday, coming back together for the first time since Cohen recovered from his battle with the coronavirus.
“It was a delightful reunion,” the Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen host, 51, said on Tuesday’s Today, where he shared a photo snapped of the two during their emotional get-together.
“I can’t say it was one from a movie, I joined him playing blocks and he immediately started knocking down what I was making,” Cohen joked. “But he was delighted, his face lit up, he touched me a lot. [He] was very sweet.”
Later, Cohen shared the moment to Instagram, writing, “I’ve hosted reunions for years, but yesterday’s was the best one yet ♥️.”
The father-son duo had been separated for 12 days, Cohen self-quarantining after he began experiencing symptoms which he would learn on March 20 were related to COVID-19.
“I just stayed in my room, really, for that whole time,” Cohen said on Today. “When he was in the kitchen, I wasn’t in the kitchen. He, I guess, thought I was out of town, I don’t know what.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Andy Cohen Opens Up About Coronavirus Symptoms and Reuniting with Son Benjamin After Quarantine
Their time apart was difficult for Cohen, who welcomed Ben — his first child — last February through a surrogate. “Look, I’m a romantic. I’ve been sitting in my room thinking of nothing but seeing him again, watching him from the nanny cam,” said Cohen.
He went on to explain he’d still be keeping some distance from Ben, out of an abundance of caution. “I’m still kind of trying to social distance from him as much as I can even though the doctors told me it was okay,” Cohen said. “They told me five days after my last symptom it would be okay to see him.”
Cohen’s sweet reunion came on the heels of his return to work — the broadcaster hosting both his SiriusXM show, Andy Cohen Live, and WWHL, his Bravo late night talk show, remotely from his New York City apartment home office on Monday.
“This is a tough heavy time for people but we are happy to bring some stupid fun back for people,” Cohen teased on Today.
The St. Louis native also told Today that he is feeling “strong” on the other side of his health battle. “I feel like it worked its way through my system,” he said. “I’m solidly at 90 percent. It’s good.”
He explained that his symptoms — which included a fever, tightness in his chest, a cough, aches and pains in the body, exhaustion, and some chills, as well as a total loss of smell and appetite — lingered for well over a week.
U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Passes 3,000, Cases Top 163,000: Here’s an Updated Map of the Spread
To treat it, Cohen said he turned to Tylenol, Vitamin C and liquids.
“I’m asthmatic but the tightness that I felt in my chest was different from the shortness of breath that I feel as an asthmatic,” Cohen said. “It was a low fever. It was no sense of smell or taste. Really achy throughout my body — just persistent aches that wouldn’t go away. Kind of a dry cough, not horrible but there. It took about 11 days, I would say, or 12 days, to work its way through my system.”
As of Tuesday morning, at least 163,575 people across every state and territory in the United States have tested positive for the virus, according to a New York Times database. More than 3,000 people have died — more than the number of people killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
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. To help provide doctors and nurses on the front lines with life-saving medical resources, donate to Direct Relief here.
Source: Read Full Article