Rand Paul has defended himself from criticism over failing to self-isolate while awaiting Covid-19 test results, as members of Congress who had contact with the senator went into quarantine after his tests came back positive.
The Kentucky Republican addressed “those who want to criticise me for lack of quarantine” in a statement on Monday, saying: “Realise 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”, the senator continued.
He added: “It was my extra precaution, out of concern for my damaged lung, that led me to get tested.”
His comments came after fellow senators reportedly condemned Mr Paul for continuing to use Senate facilities after taking a test for Covid-19, including Arizona Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, who called the move “absolutely irresponsible” and wrote in a tweet: “You cannot be near other people while waiting for coronavirus test results. It endangers others & likely increases the spread of the virus.”
After it was reported Mr Paul had taken a coronavirus test, he was seen at the Senate gym swimming in the pool on the same day he later said he received his positive results.
His office said in a statement he left the Senate “immediately upon learning of his diagnosis” and had “zero contact with anyone [and] went into quarantine”.
However, Utah Republicans Mike Lee and Mitt Romney have since released statements confirming the two senators went into self-quarantine after having direct contact with Mr Paul.
The senator also received backlash from health experts like Ezekiel Emanuel, senior fellow at the left-leaning Centre for American Progress, who described the failure to self-isolate as a “lack of leadership” in an interview with MSNBC.
“Multiple times Rand Paul has sort of violated his basic oath of being a physician, that he should model good, healthy behaviours”, the doctor said.
In his statement, Mr Paul also called for more expansive testing surrounding the novel virus after the US faced significant hurdles in distributing kits across the country, saying: “The broader the testing and the less finger-pointing we have, the better.”
The senator noted he “didn’t fit the criteria for testing or quarantine” but ultimately decided to get tested for coronavirus due to his extensive travel and underlying health conditions. A portion of Mr Paul’s lung was removed last year following his assault by a neighbour two years prior.
He also said that he remains “asymptomatic for Covid-19” despite having tested positive for the virus, which has infected at least 35,000 Americans as of Monday.
