Ted Cruz Says He Plans To Work From Home After “Brief Interaction” With Coronavirus Patient

A couple of days ago, we reported that two AIPAC attendees were among the individuals in Westchester County who were confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus. The news was particularly startling since VP Mike Pence, Secretary of State Pompeo and a handful of other top Republican figures were in attendance.

Initially, it seemed like Pence & Co. were going to brush off the news. But a few minutes ago, Sen. Ted Cruz released a statement saying he will be staying home in Texas this week after possibly coming into contact with one of the infected individuals at the event.

Today I released the following statement: pic.twitter.com/XGXEa4ozcg

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) March 8, 2020

Though he has no signs of the virus, because of the amount of interaction he has with his constituence, Cruz has decided to stay home until a full 14 days have passed since the event, which was held 10 days ago.

So, unless symptoms emerge, Cruz should be good to go by the end of the week.

However, the incident is almost guaranteed to become grist for memers, as well as the first of what could be many lawmaker quarantines, as one twitter user pointed out.

Fortunately, those who have had contact with Cruz in the past 10 days don’t have to worry.

I’m recalling a convo I had w/ @marcorubio last week in which he said it was inevitable that a senator/House mbr would either come in contact w/ someone who tested positive for coronavirus or contract it themselves—due to the nature of their jobs (planes, events, handshakes, etc)

— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) March 8, 2020

Though hopefully this won’t become as serious a problem as it is in Iran.