Weeks after testing positive for the coronavirus, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he has recovered from the virus.
Paul shared the news in a tweet on Tuesday morning, “I have been retested, and I am negative.”
He also said that he was pitching in to help healthcare workers battling the virus, “I have started volunteering at a local hospital to assist those in my community who are in need of medical help, including Coronavirus patients.”
“Together, we will overcome this!” he added.
I appreciate all the best wishes I have received. I have been retested and I am negative. I have started volunteering at a local hospital to assist those in my community who are in need of medical help, including Coronavirus patients. Together we will overcome this! pic.twitter.com/9SeypT7rL6
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) April 7, 2020
Across the country, hospitals are looking for healthcare professionals to help handle the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Paul was an ophthalmologist before he ran for his Senate, and Kentucky state Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser (R) said that ophthalmologists could help volunteer to help fight the virus.
She explained, “An ophthalmologist is not providing elective services right now, so they could provide internal medicine care.”
Paul’s office revealed on March 22 that he had tested positive for the coronavirus and said he would go into quarantine.
After receiving criticism for carrying on with his daily life while waiting for the results to come back, Paul clarified that he was asymptomatic when he was tested and sought testing as a precaution because his lung is damaged.
He added, “I didn’t fit the criteria for testing or quarantine. I had no symptoms and no specific encounter with a COVID-19 positive person.”
News of his recovery comes as the latest data shows that there are more than 379,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the country. Additionally, five other members of Congress were previously diagnosed with the virus.
