Charles Sykes/Invision/AP/ShutterstockUPDATE: Although Larry King remains hospitalized in Los Angeles due to coronavirus, a source close to the family told NBC News that he was moved from the ICU on Sunday, Jan. 3.
According to the source, it's believed the legendary television host contracted COVID-19 from a health care worker who visited his home. One of the star's sons, whose identity wasn't revealed, also tested positive for the virus, per the insider.
"Larry continues to improve. He and his sons thank everyone for the outpouring of support and can't wait to get him home," the King family tells E! News in a statement. "They also thank the medical workers and staff at Cedars-Sinai and hospitals elsewhere who are providing care to so many people under extraordinary circumstances."
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Larry King is battling the coronavirus in a Los Angeles hospital.
The 87-year-old former host of CNN's Larry King Live, who is a cancer survivor and has heart disease, began his COVID-19 battle about 10 days ago, according to Roger Friedman's Hollywood 411 website, which first reported the news. A source close to Larry's family confirmed to ABC News on Saturday, Jan. 2, that the star was hospitalized with COVID-19, saying, "Larry has fought so many health issues in the last few years and he is fighting this one hard too, he's a champ."
Hollywood 411 added that his estranged wife Shawn King and their two sons, Chance King, 21, and Cannon King, 20, are not allowed to visit him but are in constant contact with the hospital and the doctors treating the TV host.
Hospitals across the country have implemented stricter limits on visitors amid a rapid rise in COVID-19 infections, which comes as vaccines are slowly being rolled out.
Larry, who most recently hosted the digital series Larry King Now and PoliticKING with Larry King, had a particularly difficult 2020. In November, he spent his 87th birthday in a hospital with a blood-flow issue, Page Six reported.
Over the summer, two of his five children died within weeks of each other—his adopted son Andy King, 65, suffered a fatal heart attack in late July, while his only daughter Chaia King passed away at age 51 in August, soon after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
Larry, who's been married seven times, is also a father to son Larry King Jr., 59.
Larry has been hospitalized for several health problems in years past. In 1987, he suffered a heart attack and underwent quintuple bypass surgery. In 1999, Larry was treated for prostate cancer. Then in 2017, he revealed that he had undergone surgery to remove stage one lung cancer.
Larry revealed to Page Six in 2019 that in March of that year, he suffered a "slight stroke" and a sepsis infection that later rendered him unable to walk on his left foot without the aid of a walker or wheelchair. He also had a stent replaced in his heart.
"I never thought I'd be 86. My father died when he was 43, 44. I thought I would die too," Larry told the outlet, later adding, "I have no complaints. Everything that's happened to me, I'm grateful for. Maybe that sounds cliché, but I'm really, really grateful."
This article was originally published on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021, at 2:22 p.m. PST.