Barbara Walters: Veteran newswoman, ‘The View’ host hospitalized with chickenpox

NEW YORK (AP) — Barbara Walters probably would like to hit the reset button on 2013.

She’s got the chickenpox and remains hospitalized more than a week after going in after falling and hitting her head at a pre-inaugural party in Washington on Jan. 19. A fellow host on the “The View,”Whoopi Goldberg, said Monday that Miss Walters has been transferred to a New York hospital and hopes to go home soon.

“She’s been told to rest. She’s not allowed any visitors,” Miss Goldberg said. “And we’re telling you, Barbara, no scratching!”

The 83-year-old news veteran, who underwent heart surgery in May 2010, apparently avoided a disease that hits most people when they are children. It can be serious in older people because of the possibility of complications such as pneumonia.

Even after concern about her fall had subsided, Miss Walters had been kept hospitalized last week because of a lingering fever, and doctors found the unexpected cause.

“We love you; we miss you,” Miss Goldberg said on “The View” in a message to the show’s creator. “We just don’t want to hug you.”

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