The US Senator representing the state of Kentucky, Rand Paul, has reportedly tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), according to a statement on his official Twitter handle @RandPaul on Sunday.
The popular Republican senator will be the first US Senator and the third known member of the US Congress to be confirmed positive for the virus, the news coming days after other lawmakers, including Senator Ted Cruz, went into voluntary quarantine after learning they were in close contact with people who had tested positive for the virus.
Senator Rand Paul has tested positive for COVID-19. He is feeling fine and is in quarantine. He is asymptomatic and was tested out of an abundance of caution due to his extensive travel and events. He was not aware of any direct contact with any infected person.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2020
Senator Paul in his tweet said he is “not aware of any direct contact with any infected person.”
The news also comes in the wake of US Vice President Mike Pence announcing that he will be undergoing testing for the coronavirus after a member of his staff had tested positive.
President Donald Trump had reportedly tested negative for the virus last week after he was reported to have been in contact with an aide to the Brazillian President Jair Bolsanaro who tested positive for the virus. The aide, along with Bolsanaro and other officials from Brazil, had paid the US President a visit at his ‘Summer White House’ Mar a Lago in Florida sometime in February. Bolsanaro took a test thereafter and come out negative, according to official reports.
Paul, an ophthalmologist by training, is the son of retired Republican congressman from Texas Ron Paul. The Senator’s statement indicates that despite the result he remains in good health and has no symptoms of the virus, but that he would, however, remain in quarantine.