Ted Cruz Completes Coronavirus Self-Quarantine

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said in a statement that as of  Tuesday, he has completed his self-quarantine and will move to advance solutions to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

Cruz decided to go into self-quarantine after he came into contact with a CPAC attendee who had tested positive for the Wuhan virus. He went into self-quarantine again later in March after he met with Santiago Abascal, the leader of the Spanish Vox Party, who had later tested positive for the coronavirus.

Cruz said:

Today marks 14 days since my interaction with a second individual who subsequently tested positive for COVID-19, and the end of my extended self-quarantine. I still have no symptoms and feel healthy. From the time the COVID-19 outbreak was first reported, and during my self-quarantine,I’ve been actively working with the administration, my colleagues, state and local officials, and industry leaders in combatting the spread of this disease and protecting human life.

The Texas senator said that he will move to address the coronavirus epidemic in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, saying:

This is a serious public health crisis and it requires a serious, all-hands-on-deck response. Tomorrow I will return to Washington, D.C., where I will be focused on advancing more common sense, targeted proposals to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and provide relief from the economic impacts of the outbreak. We need to work quickly and we need to be guided by the facts and the medical science, not politics. People’s lives, and their livelihoods, are on the line.

At every level, from health experts in our nation’s capital to families in the heart of Texas, we have all taken important steps to flatten the curve and slow the growth of this pandemic. We still have a long road ahead of us before COVID-19 is defeated, with many more steps involved. But together – without panic, hysteria, or partisan games – we can curb this outbreak and eventually stop it in its tracks.

Sen. Cruz sent letters to Vice President Mike Pence, Health and Human Services (HHS) Director Alex Azar, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn urging them to take swift action to counter the spread of the coronavirus. He said that the government leaders should:

• Make testing more “accurate and available.”
• “Make sure we have enough of the essential medical supplies for first responders.”
• “Create more capacity and provide critical resources for hospitals and other medical facilities.”
• “We need to find cures, and quickly.”

Sens. Cruz and Mike Lee (R-UT) also introduced the RESULTs for Coronavirus Patients Act, which they designed to expedite the FDA approval process for drugs and devices approved in other countries that could treat coronavirus patients and stop the outbreak.

“America has overcome serious challenges before, and together, we will once again,” Cruz added.