U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) announced that he will self quarantine after having a brief interaction with an individual who was diagnosed with coronavirus. The interaction happened at the Conservative Political Action Conference and included a handshake.
The virus has impacted various industries and businesses around the world so far. The economic impact of coronavirus is looking to be on par with the 2008 financial crisis. Companies such as Facebook, Apple and Twitter are encouraging their employees to work from home.
The office of Ted Cruz released the following statement:
“I’m not experiencing any symptoms, and I feel fine and healthy. Given that the interaction was 10 days ago, that the average incubation period is 5-6 days, that the interaction was for less than a minute, and that I have no current symptoms, the medical authorities have advised me that the odds of transmission from the other individual to me were extremely low. The physicians further advised that testing is not effective before symptoms manifest, and my brief interaction with the individual does not meet the CDC criteria for self-quarantine. The medical authorities explicitly advised me that, given the above criteria, the people who have interacted with me in the 10 days since CPAC should not be concerned about potential transmission. Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution, and because of how frequently I interact with my constituents as a part of my job and to give everyone peace of mind, I have decided to remain at my home in Texas this week, until a full 14 days have passed since the CPAC interaction.
