Chris Cuomo off this week as CNN avoids report New York gov brother gave anchor COVID testing priority

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CNN anchor Chris Cuomo is conveniently off the air this week, just as the "Cuomo Prime Time" host finds himself swept up in another scandal involving his brother, Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 

The Albany-based Times Union newspaper reported late Wednesday that "high-level members" of New York's Department of Health were directed by Andrew Cuomo and state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker to "conduct prioritized coronavirus testing on the governor's relatives as well as influential people with ties to the administration." 

"Members of Cuomo's family including his brother, his mother and at least one of his sisters were also tested by top health department officials — some several times, the sources said," according to the Times Union. 

The "Cuomo Prime Time" anchor was diagnosed with the coronavirus on March 31. As the paper noted, the diagnosis came "at a time when many members of the public struggled to obtain coronavirus tests."

CNN'S CHRIS CUOMO REPORTEDLY PRIORITIZED FOR COVID TESTING BY BROTHER'S ADMINISTRATION EARLY IN PANDEMIC

It is unclear, however, whether Chris Cuomo himself, CNN, or New York State taxpayers funded the test that showed the positive test results.

On Tuesday, the "Cuomo Prime Time" Twitter account reminded viewers the anchor would be off the air this week to be with his family and would return Monday. 

Chris Cuomo previously told viewers he "obviously" could not cover his brother's political woes -- despite inviting the so-called "Luv Guv" onto his show for nearly a dozen chummy interviews in the early months of the pandemic. However, his primetime colleagues Anderson Cooper, who has also taken over Cuomo's timeslot this week, and Don Lemon both avoided the bombshell report, which likely would have been breaking news on the far-left network if a Republican governor was knee-deep in such a scandal.  

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According to the Times Union, epidemiologist Dr. Eleanor Adams was sent to the CNN anchor's residence in Long Island to test him. It is unclear if she was the one who administered his positive test results.  

In addition, New York State Police troopers were reportedly ordered to drive the COVID tests, which were referred to as "critical samples," to the Wadsworth Center laboratory in Albany. 

A Cuomo administration official told the Albany paper, "It's being a little bit distorted with like a devious intent. ... We made sure to test people they believed were exposed." The official added: "All of this was being done in good faith in an effort to trace the virus."

A CNN spokesperson told the Washington Post, "We generally do not get involved in the medical decisions of our employees. However, it is not surprising 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." 

CNN did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.

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Despite benefiting from priority treatment by the Cuomo administration, Chris Cuomo appeared to flout his own brother's COVID restrictions by leaving his home as he was recovering from the virus. In April of last year, the anchor reportedly got in a verbal confrontation on the lawn of another property with a cyclist who called him out for violating the governor's policies. 

Andrew Cuomo is already under investigation after a senior adviser admitted to Democratic lawmakers that his administration covered up data on nursing home deaths during the pandemic. A separate investigation is examining allegations of sexual misconduct made against the governor by eight women.