A conservative Spanish politician who attended CPAC last week announced on Twitter this Thursday that he’s tested positive for the coronavirus.
“This Tuesday, upon learning [fellow politician] Javier Smith’s positive, I quarantined myself and asked a private lab for a Covid-19 test,” a translation of Santiago Abascal’s tweet reads.
“The test has also tested positive, so I’ll keep working from home. Thank you for your concern, although I am reasonably fine.”
Este martes, al conocer el positivo de Javier Ortega, me puse en cuarentena y pedí a un laboratorio privado un test de Covid-19. La prueba también ha dado positivo así que seguiré trabajando desde casa. Gracias por vuestra preocupación aunque me encuentro razonablemente bien.
— Santiago Abascal (@Santi_ABASCAL) March 12, 2020
Abascal is the leader of Vox, a conservative party that, much like the Republican Party here in the states, has been smeared as “racist” and “fascist” for its realistic concerns about the consequences of nonstop, unrestrained immigration.
Smith is likewise the party’s secretary general.
In a statement to The Daily Caller, Abascal said he attended CPAC from February 26th through the 28th during a visit to Washington, D.C.
He cautioned however that the believes he contracted the coronavirus at a political rally in Spain that he’d attended with Smith days after CPAC.
Video footage captured from the March 8th rally shows Smith coughing near him.
Watch:
“The Vox party leader told the Daily Caller that Ortega Smith tested positive for coronavirus on March 10th, which inspired him to get tested despite not having any symptoms. He says he took the test on March 12th,” TDC reported.
“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure.”
Prior to Abascal’s announcement, other CPAC participants were already on high alert — with a number of congressional Republicans having placed themselves into self-imposed quarantines — because of reports that one attendee had been exposed to the coronavirus before the conference and subsequently tested positive for it afterward.
“The American Conservative Union has learned that one of our CPAC attendees has unfortunately tested positive for coronavirus,” the event’s host organization announced last Saturday.
“The exposure occurred previous to he conference. A New Jersey hospital tested the person, and CDC confirmed the positive result. The individual is under the care of medical professionals in the state of New Jersey, and has been quarantined.”
Important Health Notification for CPAC 2020 participants and attendees. pic.twitter.com/NtahNO8st3
— ACU (@ACUConservative) March 7, 2020
Multiple congressional Republicans who attended the conference have placed themselves into self-imposed quarantines since the announcement was made.
Of even greater concern is the fact that many of these same congressional Republicans interacted directly with President Donald Trump after their CPAC attendance.
“Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, who shook hands with Trump on Friday, and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who was on board Air Force One and drove in Trump’s car on Monday, announced earlier in the day that they have decided to stay home after being informed that they came in contact with an individual at the Conservative Political Action Conference who was later hospitalized with coronavirus,” Politico confirmed Monday.
“And then Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Trump’s incoming chief of staff who attended a White House meeting last week, announced Monday evening that he is under “self-quarantine” until Wednesday as a precautionary measure, even though he tested negative for the virus.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, who reportedly met with Trump at the White House last week, has also entered into a quarantine.
It’s not clear whether ACU chair Matt Schlapp, who reportedly interacted with Trump on the last day of the conference, will follow suit.
Speaking with Fox News host Laura Ingraham late Monday on FNC’s “The Ingraham Angle,” Schlapp swore that “nobody got sick” from the unnamed CPAC attendee who contracted the coronavirus.
“In this case, there was nobody with any symptoms at any time, nobody got sick because he [the infected person] was there,” the ACU chair maintained. “We had 10,000 people in a ballroom and no one got sick, even though the virus was there.”
Listen to the discussion below:
(Source: Fox News)
While that may be true, the president also faces a potential coronavirus threat from Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s press secretary, Fabio Wajngarten. The two were spotted standing alongside each other over the weekend.
Five days later on Thursday, the Brazilian daily newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo revealed that Wajngarten has tested positive for the coronavirus.
“Fabio Wajngarten, President Jair Bolsonaro’s communications secretary, will have his samples submitted for a second test for final confirmation, Estado reported,” Bloomberg has confirmed.
“He was part of the presidential entourage during a trip to Florida earlier this week. Pictures posted on social media show him side-by-side with Trump, wearing a ‘Make Brazil Great Again’ hat.”
View this post on Instagram
“Make Brazil Great Again” @realdonaldtrump @mikepence @alvarogarnero ????????????
The president has for his part reportedly dismissed any concerns about contracting the coronavirus.
“Let’s put it this way: I’m not concerned,” he told reporters at the White House early Thursday afternoon.
Listen:
Trump asked about interacting with infected Brazilian official:
“We did nothing very unusual. We sat next to each other for a period of time. … Let’s put it this way: I’m not concerned.”
Live updates: https://t.co/epiRGdacwP pic.twitter.com/gWMmYaehp2
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) March 12, 2020
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.
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