Nick Cordero's wife Amanda Kloots says actor 'went into septic shock'

Amanda Kloots has admitted husband Nick Cordero’s COVID-19 related condition took a turn for the worse on Monday.

‘We had kind of a bit of a rough day yesterday,’ said the 38-year-old personal trainer in her Tuesday Instagram Stories.

She said her Broadway star husband, 41, got an infection in his lungs that ‘went into his blood’, meaning he ‘went into a little bit of septic shock’.

Septic shock is a severe and potentially fatal condition that occurs when sepsis leads to life-threatening low blood pressure – for which Nick is now on blood pressure medication.

HOW CAN COVID-19 LEAD TO BLOOD CLOTS AND STROKES?

The coronavirus appears to cause blood clotting which can lead to deadly strokes.

While experts are unsure why the virus causes the blockages, there are three main theories:

CYTOKINE STORM

Some say it could be the result of a an immune overreaction called a ‘cytokine storm’.

Cytokines are chemical-signaling molecules which guide a healthy immune response.

They tell immune cells to attack viral molecules in the body.

But in some people, this resonpse goes into overdrive and immune cells start attacking healthy tissue as well, known as a cytokine storm.

As blood vessels become damaged they can leak, causing blood pressure to drop and driving up the chance of clots forming.

BYPRODUCT OF INFECTION

Other scientists say the surge in strokes may be a byproduct of the way COVID-19 invades the human body.

Professor Ian Jones, a virologist at the University of Reading, told MailOnline: ‘Covid binds to an enzyme called ACE2 which is on the surface of the cell.

‘It simply uses it as a way of attaching itself but in doing so the enzyme function of ACE2 is reduced.

‘The consequence of this is an imbalance of hormones called Angiotensin I and Angiotensin II which together regulate blood pressure.

‘It could be related to the increase in strokes reported.’

VIRUS’ UNIQUE SHAPE

Dr Robert Bonow, a professor of cardiology at Northwestern University, said it may be the coronavirus’ unique shape that is causing the bloodclotting issues.

He said the virus’ spikes, which latch onto receptors in cells, can also attach to blood vessels.

Once they dock onto these blood vessel cells, the viral particles can trigger damage to these as well as to heart muscle, Dr Bonow says.

Amanda said Nick’s doctors ‘went in and completely cleaned out his lungs’.

As well as the blood pressure medication, the Bullets Over Broadway star is on ‘really strong’ antibiotics.

‘This kinda came out of nowhere,’ said the mother-of-one, adding that her husband ‘is throwing us for some loops that’s for sure’.

But Nick ‘is back to feeling better…and [his condition] is stable,’ added Amanda.

Cordero will have to remain on a ventilator in his ongoing health battle, according to a previous update by Kloots, as he developed a fever in his battle to overcome COVID-19.

Amanda said in an Instagram Stories clip that plans for the Tony-nominated actor to have a tracheostomy to increase his comfort were scrapped after he developed ‘a fever that caused his blood pressure to drop slightly’.

‘Unfortunately, they are not able to remove the ventilator today and put the trach in,’ said Kloots, who has been updating fans and friends on her spouse status via social media.

Hamilton, Canada native Cordero, whose right leg was amputated amid the health battle, is set to be placed back on a regimen of blood pressure medication to deal with the fever. (He is currently in a medically-induced coma.)

Kloots said, ‘He’s back on a little bit of blood pressure medication, which he was off of, and they are trying to just really make sure that this fever doesn’t really go anywhere, get out of control.’

Medics initially believed the Bullets Over Broadway star had been dealing with pneumonia, Kloots said in an April 1 post.

The performer tested negative for coronavirus, then tested positive in a later test.

He was placed in a medically-induced coma and put on a ventilator, and later had to be put on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, which saved his life – but also caused the blood issues that led to his leg amputation.

‘They put the ECMO machine in him to save his life,’ Amanda explained during an interview with Today earlier this month.

‘It was literally to save his life, and it did, thank God. And sometimes the repercussion of putting that machine on can cause some blood issues, and it did with his leg.’

Because of the blood clots, doctors had to amputate Nick’s leg on April 18.

Battle: The Hamilton, Canada native’s right leg was amputated amid the health battle; the performer initially tested negative for coronavirus, then tested positive in a later test

Cordero most recently tested positive for coronavirus on Friday, when doctors installed a temporary pacemakers.

In a Sunday clip, Kloots said she and Cordero were ‘dealing with recovery and getting his body back from all the repercussions of the virus.’

In addition to Cordero’s health woes, the pandemic has had a devastating impact on Broadway, darkening the famed street amid the shutdown in New York City, as playwright Terrence McNally died March 24 at 81 due to complications from the coronavirus.

As of Monday, the death total for COVID-19 was at 50,327 people in the U.S., with 981,134 total positive diagnoses, Johns Hopkins University reported. On a global level, 211,159 people have died amid 3,041,517 positive diagnoses worldwide.