Chris Cuomo's wife responds to backlash after suggesting bleach bath could help beat coronavirus

The wife of CNN television journalist Chris Cuomo has come under fire for suggesting that a bleach bath could help beat COVID-19.

Cristina Cuomo developed coronavirus last month, 18 days after her husband, and decided that following homeopathic treatments was the right path for her.

In a post recently shared on her online magazine, The Purist, Cristina said that she took a bath consisting of one quarter of a cup of Clorox Bleach, which she believes helped her beat the deadly virus. And while this treatment is not advised by doctors, it was recommended to Cristina by her homeopathic doctor.

READ MORE: Busted: COVID-19 myths and misconceptions to watch out for

"There's a huge opposition against holistic medicine, I get that," Cristina told People magazine in response to the backlash. "None of these natural remedies below should be taken without consulting a doctor or naturopath. [But] if there's a potential for something to work, why not investigate it?

"Who knows if it worked or what it did, but I know that in nine days, I got most of that virus out of my system," she said. "This being a virus with no vaccination and no cure, my resolution was to learn as much as I can, go to my same doctor Linda Lancaster and follow her protocol, her prescription. And no way am I saying please try this. It's just the path that I took and I'm sharing it because there isn't a lot of anecdotal evidence."

In her online article, Cristina wrote in length about the effects of bathing in bleach, saying that it primarily helped to increase oxygen levels.

"I'm not suggesting anyone follow this, but I wanted to share my experience. At the direction of my doctor, Dr. Linda Lancaster, who reminded me that this is an oxygen-depleting virus, she suggested I take a bath to combat the radiation and pollutants in the system and oxygenate it."

It's not just the couple who have battled coronavirus — their 14-year old son, Mario, also tested positive to the virus, Chris revealed on April 23.

"The virus worked through the family," Chris said on his program Cuomo Prime Time, while chatting via video link to his brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. "It was me and Cristina, and now Mario has the same symptoms she had, and he's got the Coronavirus. It's working its way through, but they're doing fine."

Coronavirus: What you need to know

What are the symptoms of someone infected with coronavirus?

Coronavirus patients may experience flu like symptoms such as a fever, cough, runny nose, or shortness of breath. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia with severe acute respiratory distress.

What is the difference between COVID-19 and the flu?

The symptoms of COVID-19 and the flu are very similar, as they both can cause fever and respiratory issues.

Both infections are also transmitted the same way, via coughing or sneezing, or by contact with hands, surfaces or objects contaminated with the virus.

The speed of transmission and the severity of the infection are the key differences between COVID-19 and the flu.

The time from infection to the appearance of symptoms is typically shorter with the flu. However, there are higher proportions of severe and critical COVID-19 infections.