Coronavirus: 2 US congressmen announce self-quarantine

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - Two U.S. congressmen announced that they were placing themselves under voluntary self-quarantine over the fears of deadly coronavirus.

Both politicians said the decision was taken as they interacted with a person who tested positive for the new coronavirus at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland late February.

"I have been informed that, during the CPAC conference, members of my staff and I came into contact with an individual who has since tested positive for, and is hospitalized for, COVID-19. I was with the individual for an extended period of time, and we shook hands several times," Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona said on Twitter late Sunday.

Gasor said that he was not currently experiencing any symptoms, nor his staff.

"In order to prevent any potential transmission, I will remain at home in Arizona until the conclusion of the 14-day period following my interaction with this individual," he said.

The congressman also said that his office in Washington, D.C. will be closed for a week and his team will follow telecommute plan.

Earlier, Senator Ted Cruz made a similar announcement, adding he is not experiencing any symptoms and feels "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 advised me that the odds of transmission from the other individual to me were extremely low," Cruz said in a Twitter statement.

He said that he decided to remain in his home in Texas for a week until a full 14 days have passed since the CPAC interaction "out of an abundance of caution and to give everyone peace of mind."

Cruz stressed the U.S. needs to continue to be proactive in mobilizing resources to fight COVID-19 -- including $8.3 billion in emergency funding approved by the Congress and signed by President Donald Trump last week.

The CPAC 2020 took place during the last week of February.

The death toll from coronavirus in the U.S. has climbed to 22, while more than 500 people have been diagnosed with the virus.

Oregon, California and New York states declared state of emergency to combat the epidemic.

The global death toll is around 3,800 with more than 110,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

First detected in Wuhan, China in December, the virus known as COVID-19 now is present in more than 80 countries.

As part of efforts to contain the outbreak, governments have closed borders and suspended land and air travel with the worst-hit countries, including China, Iran and Italy.

After declaring the outbreak an international health emergency in January, the WHO last month updated the global risk level to very high.