WASHINGTON/WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) – Two U.S. Republican lawmakers, Senator Ted Cruz and Rep. Paul Gosar, said on Sunday they will quarantine themselves after contact at a late February gathering of conservatives with someone who has since tested positive for coronavirus.
FILE PHOTO: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) walks toward the Senate chamber after a break in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 23, 2020. REUTERS/Erin Scott
Cruz and Gosar were among the U.S. politicians and activists who gathered just outside Washington Feb. 26-29 for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which met this year under the theme “America vs. Socialism.”
The conference organizer, American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp, said he had “incidental” contact with the attendee who tested positive, but that he felt “healthy as a horse” and had not heard of anyone else falling ill.
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence also attended the gathering in late February, but Schlapp told Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” that neither had contact with the person infected by the virus.
More than half of the 50 U.S. states have reported cases, including the first cases in Virginia and Connecticut on Sunday. As the outbreak spreads, daily life has been disrupted, with some concerts and confere