Sen. Rand Paul hit back at critics who accused him of being irresponsible for not self-quarantining before his coronavirus test came back positive.
Paul, who said he had no symptoms, did not isolate himself from others until his test came back positive. He was at a luncheon on Friday with his Republican colleagues and was accused of using the Senate gym on Sunday morning. Republican senators in contact with Paul in recent days have since self-quarantined out of precaution.
“For those who want to criticize me for lack of quarantine, realize that if the rules on testing had been followed to a tee, I would never have been tested and would still be walking around the halls of the Capitol. The current guidelines would not have called for me to get tested nor quarantined. It was my extra precaution, out of concern for my damaged lung, that led me to get tested,” the Kentucky Republican said in a statement Monday.
Paul, 57, had part of his lung removed in August after it was damaged when he was attacked by his neighbor in 2017. The attack left him with broken ribs.
Paul, who took the test last Monday, said he thought it was “highly unlikely” that it would come back positive because he has had no known contact with people who have tested positive for the virus or have been sick. He attended a fundraiser on March 7 with two individuals who later tested positive, but Paul said he never interacted with either individual.
Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend tests for anyone with symptoms and those who have had contact with others infected with the virus.
“I believe we need more testing immediately, even among those without symptoms. The nature of COVID-19 put me — and us all — in a Catch-22 situation. I didn’t fit the criteria for testing or quarantine. I had no symptoms and no specific encounter with a COVID-19 positive person. I had, however, traveled extensively in the U.S. and was required to continue doing so to vote in the Senate. That, together with the fact that I have a compromised lung, led me to seek testing. Despite my positive test result, I remain asymptomatic for COVID-19,” Paul said. “The broader the testing and the less finger-pointing we have, the better.”
