2 Prominent GOP Lawmakers Self-Quarantine After CPAC Virus Scare

Coronavirus hysteria has officially reached Capitol Hill.

On Sunday, Two Republican lawmakers announced they’re going into self-imposed quarantine following a possible exposure to an infected individual at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) event roughly two weeks ago. Neither of them has been diagnosed as infected, but they’re self-quarantining as a preventative measure against further spread of the contagion.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) announced on Sunday that he had shaken hands with a confirmed carrier of coronavirus at the CPAC gathering. “Last night, I was informed that 10 days ago at CPAC I briefly interacted with an individual who is currently symptomatic and has tested positive for COVID-19,” Cruz wrote in an official statement released on Sunday, “That interaction consisted of a brief conversation and a handshake.” I’m not experiencing any symptoms and I feel fine and healthy.”

CPAC might have spread CV19 to Ted Cruz? The universe has really started messing with these people.
Coronavirus hits Capitol Hill as 2 GOP lawmakers ‘self-quarantine’ – POLITICO https://t.co/IVejeAREuW

— James McGowan (@jamsmcgowan) March 9, 2020

Cruz says his brief interaction with the coronavirus carrier doesn’t meet CDC criteria for self-quarantine, but he still plans to remain at his home this week “out of an abundance of caution.”

Meanwhile, Representative Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) also announced Sunday that he and three members of his senior staff are “officially under self-quarantine”. Gosar said the group had “sustained contact” with the CPAC coronavirus carrier. “My office will be closed for the week,” he tweeted on Sunday, ”We are all asymptomatic and feel great. But we are being proactive and cautious.” He also asked his followers to pray for the now hospitalized coronavirus patient who sparked the scare and praised the Trump administration’s response to the outbreak, “We are in touch with the CDC and the White House. They are doing a great job staying on top of this.”

Last Saturday, the American Conservative Union (ACU) announced that an attendee of this year’s CPAC conference had tested positive for COVID-19. The group said that the patient in question had been exposed prior to the CPAC event and there was some risk that the virus could’ve been transmitted through the gathering.

President Trump spoke at this year’s CPAC, but the ACU stressed that the President never came into contact with the infected individual. However, ACU chairman Matt Schlapp later revealed that he interacted with the carrier prior to shaking the president’s hand, raising the possibility that he could’ve indirectly exposed Trump. Thankfully, the president has shown no signs of illness since the event.

The average incubation period for COVID-19 is five to six days. The CPAC conference was roughly ten days ago, so Cruz, Gosar, and Trump are probably in the clear. However, with over 100,000 cases reported worldwide, the public is clearly on edge. Despite the global hysteria, the virus’s fatality rate is extremely low. There are roughly 110,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus globally but only 3,800 of those cases resulted in deaths. For comparison, the CDC statistics count 12,000 influenza deaths since October 1st, 2019.

It’s no surprise that these political figures are quarantining themselves. The last thing the U.S. needs is to have coronavirus spreading through the halls of Congress. However, the quarantines seem to be purely cautionary and there is no indication that either party has been infected with the virus.