CNN defended Chris Cuomo for using Andrew Cuomo's power as New York governor to access COVID-19 tests when they were hard to find
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- CNN defended anchor Chris Cuomo from claims that he accepted favors from his brother.
- Andrew Cuomo secured family members priority COVID-19 tests last year, according to a report.
- CNN said Chris Cumo was concerned he might be contagious and was acting as anyone would.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
CNN has defended Chris Cuomo after allegations that his brother, Andrew Cuomo, used his authority as governor of New York to secure family members priority coronavirus tests last year.
In statement Wednesday, the network said that Chris Cuomo was acting "as any human being would" in allegedly accepting his brother's help.
"It is not surprising that in the earliest days of a once-in-a-century global pandemic, when Chris was showing symptoms and was concerned about possible spread, he turned to anyone he could for advice and assistance, as any human being would," said a spokesperson for the network told The Washington Post.
Cuomo, who has a primetime news show on CNN, has not personally commented on the allegation.
CNN did not immediately respond to Insider's request for further comment on the claims.
On March 31 last year, Chris Cuomo announced that he had tested positive for the illness, and quarantined for several weeks afterwards. He did not reveal how he had obtained a test to learn of his diagnosis.
Andrew Cuomo is facing the greatest crisis of his political career over allegations he sexually harassed female colleagues, and concealing COVID-19 nursing home deaths.
Chris Cuomo has been criticised for a series of earlier softball interviews with his brother last year over his handling of the coronavirus.
As pressure on the governor mounted, Cuomo told his CNN audience that he would not cover news about his brother, but said that his colleagues at CNN would.
The statement defending Chris on the issue of the tests came after a report by the Albany Times-Union described how Andrew Cuomo and Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker arranged tests for Cuomo family members including his brother, mother, and sister in the early weeks of the pandemic.
At the time, tests were not widely available to the public.
According to the report, members of Cuomo's family were tested several times at their homes, with samples from the tests bumped to the front of the queue for processing.
The governor's office has denied the allegation that favoritism played a role in establishing who got the test.
"Among those we assisted were members of the general public, including legislators, reporters, state workers and their families who feared they had contracted the virus and had the capability to further spread it," said the office.
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