Congressman who refused to wear a mask tests COVID-19 positive

Washington – Texas Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert, who according to US media has refused to wear a mask during the pandemic, announced Wednesday that he tested positive for the COVID-19, just before accompanying President Donald Trump on a trip to his state.

“Apparently I have the Wuhan virus,” said the legislator in a video he posted on his Twitter account, referring to the coronavirus.

From his office in Congress, Gohmert reported that this Tuesday before entering the White House he underwent a rapid test in which he gave a positive result, so he was subjected to a new test, this time with hyssop, which confirmed the initial diagnostic.

“I am asymptomatic. I do not have any of the symptoms on the COVID-19 list,” he added.

The legislator, who participated on Tuesday in the appearance of the United States Attorney General, William Barr, before the Judicial Committee of the House of Representatives, distorted the allegations that he had refused to cover his face.

“I have worn one more mask (time) the last week or two than in the last four months. And I was wearing my mask at the hearing ”in the Judicial Committee, he added.

According to press reports, the Republican was scheduled to fly this Wednesday with Trump on the trip to Texas.

Images of a moment in which Gohmert walked behind the attorney general, both without their faces covered, through one of the halls of Congress circulated on social networks.

Public NPR radio indicated, citing a Justice Department spokesperson, that Barr will be tested.

Congressmen Mario Diaz Balart, Neal Dunn, Morgan Griffith, Mike Kelly, Ben McAdams and Tom Rice, as well as Senator Rand Paul, have contracted the virus so far.

The White House reported Monday that Robert O’Brien, Trump’s National Security Adviser, tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolated, making him the highest-ranking official of the US Executive known to have been affected by the disease.

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