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Chris Cuomo Cameos at Brother's Coronavirus Briefing — and Says He Had a Fever Dream of Andrew

CNN host Chris Cuomo flipped the script on his older brother Thursday, video-calling into New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s daily coronavirus news conference — rather than the latter appearing on CNN — to give an update on his health after announcing earlier this week that he’d tested positive for the new respiratory illness.

Chris, 49, said Wednesday that he’d experienced a fever, chills and shortness of breath due to the virus, which causes the disease COVID-19.

On Thursday the news anchor told his brother, 62, that his high fevers had gotten so bad that he’d been hallucinating at times — even, he noted playfully, seeing a very strange vision of the governor.

“You came to me in a dream,” Chris said, laughing. “You had on a very interesting ballet outfit. You were dancing in the dream. You were waving a wand and saying, ‘I wish I could wave this wand and make this go away.’ And then you spun around and you danced away”

“Well there’s a lot of metaphoric reality in that one,” the governor replied with a suppressed chuckle. “I thank you for sharing that with us, that was kind of you. Obviously the fever has affected your mental capacity.”

The younger Cuomo also said the governor should do a press conference every day — but he already was, he replied wryly: “You have Cuomo Prime Time, I have Cuomo all the time, that’s the difference.”

The brothers have, for different reasons, been in the spotlight of the virus response across the country.

Andrew has occasionally appeared on his younger brother’s CNN show to talk about New York’s effort to slow the spread of the virus, where their conversation sometimes include fond familial bickering.

“Rule one is never hit a brother when he’s down and you’re literally in the basement,” he joked with Chris at his Thursday press conference, in front of rows of reporters waiting to ask questions about New York, now the epicenter of the pandemic in America.

“If I were you, now’s the time to strike,” Chris shot back.

RELATED: Gov. Andrew Cuomo Reacts to Brother Chris’ Coronavirus Diagnosis, Says Virus ‘Is the Great Equalizer’

Kevin Mazur/Getty New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (left) and CNN host Chris Cuomo

There had been more than 230,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and at least 5,700 deaths as of Thursday afternoon, according to a New York Times tracker. In New York, nearly 2,400 people had died and roughly 92,000 cases of the virus had been confirmed.

Andrew on Thursday praised his brother for continuing to film his show from self-quarantine in his basement, saying it was an “incredible” show of character and could potentially help those watching understand what symptoms of the virus look like.

“It takes a lot of the unknown out of the equation,” Andrew said. “Think about it from a journalistic point of view or a public service point of view, you’re answering a lot of questions for Americans.”

As the Cuomo brothers often do after teasing back-and-forth, Andrew ended on a serious note, telling Chris he was proud of him for fighting through the virus, continuing to work and staying positive.

“A lot of people’s instinct would’ve been to get in bed, pull the covers over their head,” Andrew said. “Not many people would’ve stood up the way you have stood up. I’ve always been proud of you, you know that, but I’ve never been prouder of you than I am right now.”

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.