Katie Couric Confirms She’s In ‘Self-Quarantine’ After Seeing Close Friend With Coronavirus

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Katie Couric revealed on Twitter that her ‘old friend’ Rick Cotton tested positive for the Coronavirus shortly after she saw him. The journalist confirmed she has gone to the doctor and will be ‘working from home’ for the time being.

Katie Couric, 63, is taking extra precautions when it comes to COVID19, otherwise known as the Coronavirus. The journalist revealed that she came into contact with her friend Rick Cotton, who is the head of the Port Authority in New York City, on Saturday, Mar. 7. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo confirmed that Rick tested positive for Coronavirus on Monday, Mar. 9, and is currently under self-quarantine and working from home. “Rick Cotton is an old friend of mine. In fact I just saw him on Saturday for the first time in a long time. Feel better Rick,” she posted, retweeting the article. “Thinking of you Rick! PS: We didn’t touch!” she also confirmed.

Fans immediately began responding to her post with concerns about her health, or if she had been experiencing any of the symptoms, which can take up to five days to show. Katie then responded, and went into detail about the steps she had already taken: “OK people – thank you for your concern!! I have a few updates: So far I’ve talked to someone from @WHO who referred me to the @HealthNYGov which told me that it was not necessary to self-quarantine. This was also confirmed by my primary care physician,” she shared in another tweet, later confirming that she will also be working from home.

“My interaction was a 90-second conversation with an asymptomatic person and involved no physical contact. I am now quadruple checking with the @CDCgov,” she continued. “But overall, the people I spoke to said to continue using common sense and good hygiene practices and if I start having symptoms or not feeling well I should go to my primary care doctor immediately. Hopefully, this is helpful for anyone who deals with this in the future + I will keep you guys updated as soon as I have more info!”

From there, she tweeted the updated Coronavirus guidance from the World Health Organization and added that she had once again followed up with the Center For Disease Control & Prevention. “Just talked to a @CDCgov official who said I’m very low risk given the duration and nature of contact. I will be working from home to be safe and make sure if I’m not feeling well I will go to the doctor. Will keep you posted,” Katie wrote.

The Coronavirus is continuing to spread, leading to multiple event cancellations including Austin-based SXSW. So far, there’s over 100K confirmed cases, and over 3800 confirmed deaths, reports CNN.