Senator Ted Cruz has announced he is going into self-quarantine at his home in Texas "out of an abundance of caution" after shaking hands with a person infected with COVID-19 at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington DC in late February.
He assured the public, however, that since the interaction was brief the chances of contracting the disease are very low.
"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. That interaction consisted of a brief conversation and a handshake. [...] I have decided to remain at my home in Texas this week, until a full 14 days have passed since the CPAC interaction", Cruz said in a statement.
Medical authorities, however, told Cruz that he does not meet the criteria of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for self-quarantine, as he is not experiencing any symptoms and is past the average 5-6 day incubation period for the COVID-19 virus.
Today I released the following statement: pic.twitter.com/XGXEa4ozcg
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) March 8, 2020
On Saturday, the American Conservative Union announced in a statement that one of the CPAC attendees had tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19). According to the release, the exposure occurred prior to the conference and the infected individual is now in quarantine.
Meanwhile, Washington reported two more deaths from coronavirus, bringing the death toll to 21. California governor said 114 COVID-19 cases were registered in the state. A number of states have declared a state of emergency over the outbreak.
COVID-19 was first registered in the Chinese city of Wuhan last December and has since infected over 105,500 people in more than 100 countries, according to the latest data provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
