WASHINGTON - Rand Paul, a critic of emergency coronavirus spending, has become the first US senator to test positive for COVID-19, the Republican lawmaker's office said Sunday.
A statement from a staff member said he was in quarantine but remained asymptomatic.
As US senators work on a multi-trillion-dollar rescue package to help the US economy hit hard by the pandemic, Paul has at least twice voted against such emergency funding.
Paul, who is 57, is the third member of Congress known to have contracted the virus. Two members of the House of Representatives -- Ben McAdams of Utah and Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida -- earlier announced positive tests.
Paul, the junior senator from Kentucky, "is feeling fine and is in quarantine. He is asymptomatic and was tested out of an abundance of caution due to his extensive travel and events," said the statement from his staff.
It said Paul was not aware of any direct contact with an infected person. It added that the senator's Washington office had begun operating remotely 10 days ago, so "virtually no staff has had contact with Senator Paul."
It was not clear exactly when he was tested.
On Wednesday, Paul voted against a $100 billion stimulus package designed to combat the virus.
The bill, which passed by a 90-8 vote, called for free virus testing and paid sick leave for some displaced workers.
The senator, a deficit hawk, argued that Congress should pay for the measure by cutting funding for wars or other "frivolous" programs, the Louisville, Kentucky Courier-Journal reported.
He urged his colleagues to "stop being a rubber stamp for wasteful spending."
Earlier in the month, he opposed a bipartisan $8 billion plan for emergency coronavirus funding.
Agence France-Presse
Republican Senator Rand Paul suffered minor injuries after being attacked at his home in the southern state of Kentucky by a neighbor who tackled him from behind, according to a news report Saturday.
State troopers arrived at Paul's home in Warren County on Friday afternoon in response to a report of an assault and arrested 59-year-old Rene Boucher, Kentucky State Police said in a statement.
"Upon their arrival, it was determined that Rene Boucher had intentionally assaulted Paul, causing a minor injury," the statement said.
Boucher was charged with one count of fourth degree assault.
According to an arrest warrant obtained by Politico, Paul was tackled from behind by his neighbor Boucher, who admitted to his role in the attack.
Paul was seeking medical attention for a "possible rib injury" that caused difficulty breathing, and bleeding from cuts around his mouth, the warrant said.
"Senator Paul was blindsided and the victim of an assault," Paul spokeswoman Kelsey Cooper told Politico. "The assailant was arrested and it is now a matter for the police. Senator Paul is fine."
It was not known what prompted the attack.
Paul, 54, ran an unsuccessful bid last year to be the Republican nominee for the White House.
The politician with libertarian leanings stresses individual rights and privacy, and was a key "no" vote in sinking a plan by his party to overhaul president Barack Obama's health care reforms.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia - US representatives Ron DeSantis and Jeff Duncan had ducked out of baseball practice early on Wednesday when a middle-aged man in the parking lot asked them if the players in red shirts on the field were Republicans or Democrats.
"Republican," Duncan said before departing.
Minutes later, the man, rifle and handgun in tow, opened fire on the congressmen's teammates - Republican lawmakers gathered on a muggy morning near Washington to prepare for a charity ballgame.
"A killing field," U.S. Senator Rand Paul said in a televised interview, describing the scene in Arlington, Virginia.
"We were sitting ducks," said Representative Roger Williams.
Williams, the team coach, told reporters he was hitting ground balls when he heard what sounded like a car engine backfiring.
"He's got a gun! Run for cover," Williams heard next.
He dove into the dugout behind first base. Zack Barth, a staffer shot in the leg, ran in from the outfield and landed in Williams' arms.
Barth texted for help as more bullets flew. U.S. Senator Jeff Flake used his belt as a makeshift tourniquet to stop the staffer's bleeding, Williams said.
Taking cover behind home plate, U.S. Representative Mo Brooks saw a rifle pointing from a chain link fence behind the third base dugout.
A scream rang out from second base, Brooks said.
Steve Scalise, the No. 3 Republican in the House of Representatives, had been shot in the hip and fell to the ground. He left a trail of blood as he dragged himself to the outfield, seeking distance from the gunman who said nothing as he fired.
On her front porch just across the street from the field in a trendy, family-friendly neighborhood, Reba Winstead heard a dozen shots.
"A bullet just came down my street,” she told an emergency dispatcher.
Police audio obtained by media recorded a flood of frantic calls: "Shots being fired ... We need medics ... Victim down in the baseball field.”
Alexandria police arrived at 7:12 a.m., about three minutes after the first emergency phone call reporting an active shooter. Members of the Capitol Police, serving as security detail to Scalise, were firing at the gunman.
By 7:14 a.m., the gunman, 66-year-old James Hodgkinson from the St. Louis suburb of Belleville, Illinois, was down. Later he died.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
