Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz may have been exposed to coronavirus

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a congressman who wore a gas mask on the House floor just a few days before one of his own constituents died of coronavirus, now says he may have been exposed to coronavirus.

The 1st District congressman went to Twitter Monday afternoon to explain that he came into contact with an attendee 11 days ago at CPAC who recently tested positive for COVID-19.

He may have actually had coronavirus when he wore a gas mask during the vote to allocate $8.3 billion in emergency aid to combat coronavirus.

In a string of tweets, Gaetz says he “expected COVID-19 to impact Congress,” and “demonstrated his concern” last week by wearing the gas mask (which experts pointed out he was wearing incorrectly). Not to mention, health officials have explicitly said to not buy or wear face masks, especially ones that would do absolutely nothing to help prevent coronavirus, like the one Gaetz was wearing.

Gaetz also went on to say that he has been tested for coronavirus and is hoping for the results in the next few days. He also stated that he’s not showing any symptoms and will remain in self-quarantine for the next 14 days.

What’s astonishing is that today’s announcement means Gaetz may have actually had coronavirus when he wore a gas mask during the vote to allocate $8.3 billion in emergency aid to combat coronavirus.

Gaetz now joins a growing list of elected officials who attended the annual Conservative Political Action Conference and are now concerned they may have been exposed to the virus. President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were also at the Maryland event.

On top of that, five Florida lawmakers are now in self-quarantine over coronavirus concerns, including Reps. Thad Altman, Anthony Sabatini, Byron Donalds, Cord Byrd and Kionne McGhee, reports The Tampa Bay Times.

This story originally appeared at Creative Loafing Tampa.

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This article appears in Mar 4-10, 2020.