Coronavirus silver lining?

News with a Twist

Sen. Ted Cruz will self-quarantine after interacting with individual with coronavirus

But wait, there’s more…

In perhaps the only good news to come out of the worldwide coronavirus crisis, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) announced he will self-quarantine after interacting with an individual who tested positive for the novel coronavirus at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

According to reporting from CNN, Cruz said he will remain in Texas until a full 14 days after the interaction has passed. The Texas Republican said his interaction with the individual consisted of a “brief conversation and a handshake.”

“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 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,” he said in a statement.

While we are extremely relieved that Cruz does not appear to have been affected witn the virus, according to our reporting, the “good news” is that Cruz will make no public appearances, will not show up on any cable news shows and will basically, “hunker down” in Texas during what remains of the 14-day period. In other words, no Ted Cruz for a while…which for many people is cause for a gigantic “hurrah!” (The bad news, of course, is that there are only a few days left.)

We are waiting confirmation as to whether other attendees at the CPAC conference including Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) or Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) among others, will also self-quarantine and make no appearances or speeches like Cruz. That would be, for many, “spectacular” news!

While President Trump also attended the CPAC conference, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said President Trump isn’t worried about possibly being exposed there.

“No. Not at all,” she said. “Again, this is something that is like a flu. And so people are taking the appropriate precautions. The President of the United States as we all know is quite a hand washer. He uses hand sanitizer all the time. He is not concerned about this at all.”

Regarding “taking the appropriate precautions,” this morning Trump was seen greeting supporters in Florida shaking hands with everyone on the rope line, actions in complete contradiction to his own administration’s procedures. While it has not been reported whether any of the people he encountered have tested positive with the coronavirus (mainly because of the administration’s ineptitude, there aren’t enough testing kits), if there is a positive test, it is not known if Trump would, like Cruz, subject himself to a self-quarantine, avoiding all appearances and speeches.

Many in Washington are saying that, if he did, it would be hailed as the “Mother of All Self-Quarantines!”