Gov. Cuomo uses his brother's coronavirus to explain why people must stop 'your stupid actions' and social distance

As part of his press conference Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) noted that his brother, CNN host Chris Cuomo, had tested positive for the coronavirus or COVID-19.

"Now, he is going to be fine," said the governor. "He's young, in good shape, strong -- not as strong as he thinks, but he will be fine. ... I spoke to him this morning and he's going to be quarantined in his basement at home. he's just worried about his daughter and his kids that he hopes he didn't get them infected. You don't really know Chris. You know, you see Chris, he has a show on at night, 9:00 on CNN, but you just see one dimension, right? You see a person in his job and in his job he's combative and he's argumentive and he's pushing people but that's his job. That's really not who he is. He's a really sweet, beautiful guy. And he's my best friend."

While the brothers never miss an opportunity to joke and jab each other, the elder Cuomo brought up their recent battle they had over their mother coming over.

"There's a lesson in this," the governor said. "He's an essential worker, member of the press. So he's been out there. If you go out there, the chance you get infected is very high. ... He's concerned about his wife and his kids. But the reason I raise it is he's smart, he's social distancing, yes, but he wound up exposing [himself]. People wound up exposing you and then they find out they're positive a couple of days later.

Cuomo continued: "I had a situation with Christopher two weeks ago that I even mentioned my mother was at his house. And I said, 'That is a mistake.' Now, my mother is in a different situation. She's older, and she's healthy, but I said, 'You can't have Mom at the house.' And he said 'No, no, no, Mom is lonely. She wants to be at the house. I feel bad she's cooped up in the apartment.' I feel bad she's cooped up in the apartment too but you bring her to the house, you expose her to a lot of things."

The two ultimately got Dr. Anthony Fauci to give them a recommendation based on his expertise and Fauci agreed that exposing their elderly mother to more people put her in danger. He noted that had their mother still been at the house off and on she would now be ill.

"My brother is smart," the elder brother said. "He was acting out of love. Luckily we caught it early enough. But it's my family, it's your family, it's all of our families. And this virus is that insidious, and we have to keep that in mind, keep in mind Matilda's Law. Remember who is vulnerable here, and protect them. You want to go out and act stupid for yourself, that's one thing. But your stupid actions don't just affect you."

Watch the comments below: