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03rd Jan 2021

US broadcaster Larry King, 87, hospitalised with Covid-19

Anna Rourke

US broadcaster Larry King is being treated for Covid-19 in hospital in LA.

The veteran talk show host, 87, was hospitalised in Los Angeles after testing positive for the virus over a week ago, CNN reports.

He is believed to be in isolation in the city’s Cedars Sinai Medical Center.

“Larry has fought so many health issues in the last few years and he is fighting this one hard too, he’s a champ,” a family friend told ABC News.

The broadcaster, who has type 2 diabetes, has previously beaten lung cancer.

He has also struggled with his cardiovascular health, having suffered several heart attacks and a stroke in the past.

Larry’s health issues have inspired him to help others; he set up the Larry King Cardiac Foundation to assist people without health insurance access medical care.

His family was touched by tragedy in 2020 when he lost two of his children within a few weeks of each other. His son Andy died after a heart attack in July while his daughter passed away from lung cancer in August.

The New York native’s media career spans seven decades. He got his start in the 1950s with a radio show in Miami and rose to become one of the US’s top broadcasters, hosting his own nationwide TV and radio interview shows.

He continues to present a weekly politics talk show.