Susanna Reid is worried she may have given her mum coronavirus.
Coronavirus on Female First
The 'Good Morning Britain' co-host is in a period of self-isolation after her son developed a dry cough, but she is concerned the virus - which has killed 9,000 worldwide - might have been passed onto her 79-year-old mother Sue after her family spent last Sunday (15.03.20) together.
She said: "While I hate missing work, naturally my biggest concern as we hunker down for our self-isolation over the next two weeks is Mum.
"Have I already put her at risk of the infection? The thought is agonising. But my mother is as pragmatic as ever."
Susanna admitted she was "gripped with anxiety" when she realised she would have to self-isolate for 14 days and take her kids out of school after one of her sons developed potential coronavirus symptoms, and she believes there should be more testing available.
She said: "Gripped with anxiety, I realised my usual response of being stoic about illness and carrying on as normal was not the way forward. The thought of being a spreader filled me with fear.
"Once I had got over the initial shock that this was really happening, I started worrying about supplies.
"I want to find out for sure whether it's coronavirus, so we can put our minds at rest. Self-isolating when it might just be a cold is all right for me because I'll still get paid -- but can everyone afford to take two weeks off work when their child has a cough and they don't?
"We clearly need more testing so people can get back to work."
While the 49-year-old star knows she won't be able to see her mum on Mother's Day this Sunday (22.03.20), she is planning to video call her instead.
In a column for the Daily Mail newspaper, she wrote: "So now I'm at home I'm planning calls to Mum several times a day, not just on the phone but using FaceTime and Skype with the children.
"As one of my boys joked, 'Now we're all in self-isolation, we might end up seeing Grandma more often than usual.' "
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