Sen. Ted Cruz’s Interaction with Coronavirus Patient Prompts Him to Stay at Home

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has recently announced that he had an interaction with someone who had tested positive for the coronavirus. This person was an attendee at last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). This interaction has prompted the senator to stay at home until two weeks have passed since the encounter.

Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., later announced that he and three additional staffers were “under self-quarantine” after “sustained contact” with someone who had the virus.

Gosar said in a tweet: “I am announcing that I, along with 3 of my senior staff, are officially under self-quarantine after sustained contact at CPAC with a person who has since been hospitalized with the Wuhan Virus.  My office will be closed for the week.”

Fox News reported that “officials with the American Conservative Union (ACU), which hosted CPAC, said Saturday the attendee had been exposed before the conference, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed his case.”

https://twitter.com/GreenBayWiscon/status/1236866437118980096

According to Cruz, his interaction with that individual “consisted of a brief conversation and a handshake.” In his statement, Cruz said: “I’m not experiencing any symptoms, and I feel fine and healthy. Given that the interaction was 10 days ago, that the average incubation period is 5-6 days, that the interaction was for less than a minute, and that I have no current symptoms, the medical authorities have advised me that the odds of transmission from the other individual to me were extremely low.”

“The physicians further advised that testing is not effective before symptoms manifest, and my brief interaction with the individual does not meet the CDC criteria for self-quarantine.

The medical authorities explicitly advised me that, given the above criteria, the people who have interacted with me in the 10 days since CPAC should not be concerned about potential transmission,” he added.

Cruz decided to stay at his Texas home until 2 weeks have passed since the interaction “to give everyone peace of mind.”

“Everyone should continue to treat this outbreak seriously and be driven by facts and medical science. We need to continue to be proactive in mobilizing resources to combat this outbreak—including the $8.3 billion in emergency funding we provided last week—and I encourage everyone to follow the recommendations of the CDC and other health professionals in protecting their own health and welfare, as well as the health and welfare of those around them,” Cruz said.

The Hill reported that the senator's statement comes a day after CPAC officials announced that an attendee of the conference had tested positive for the virus.