The coronavirus just got personal for Katie Couric due to her friendship with Rick Cotton, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
On Monday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that Cotton has tested positive for coronavirus, and noted that he's now self-quarantined at his home and will be working remotely. Shortly after the news broke, Couric tweeted that she actually saw Cotton on Saturday.
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"Rick Cotton is an old friend of mine," she tweeted. "In fact I just saw him on Saturday for the first time in a long time. Feel better Rick."
"Thinking of you, Rick," she added in a follow-up tweet. "PS: We didn't touch!"
Thinking of you, Rick. PS: We didn't touch! https://t.co/Jtgixu0ij4
— Katie Couric (@katiecouric) March 9, 2020
During a news conference on Monday, Cuomo noted that he also "could have been in contact" with Cotton but noted that he has not tested positive for coronavirus. The governor mused that Cotton could have been infected while he was doing his job at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
"He has been at the airports, obviously, when many people were coming back with the virus,” he said. "JFK is one of the main airports for people coming in on those oversea flights."
Cuomo said that senior officials who work with Cotton are also being tested and that "several of them may be on quarantine." As of Monday, Cuomo said the confirmed cases of coronavirus in New York is at 142.
The worldwide spread of COVID-19, commonly known as coronavirus, has dominated news headlines recently and has also caused major public events to be canceled. On Friday, the city of Austin, Texas, announced that the annual South by Southwest film, media and music festival, which was set to take place from March 13-22, is now canceled.
The fear of coronavirus has also had an impact on a number of film and television projects including Mission: Impossible 7 and The Amazing Race, both of which shut down production over health concerns. The music industry has also been affected, with acts like BTS, Green Day and Avril Lavigne canceling upcoming tour dates.
ET spoke with America's Got Talent judge Howie Mandel -- a known germaphobe -- last week, and he talked about how he's avoiding the coronavirus.
"I don't shake hands and now I've taken it to another level: I don't inhale. I am not inhaling," he said. "Everybody's watching, everybody's aware. Welcome to Howie's world."
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