After a meeting in Miami with President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro Monday, Senator Rick Scott has decided to self-quarantine.
He was alerted by the Brazilian Embassy Thursday that Bolsonaro's communications director had tested positive for coronavirus.
My decision today to self-quarantine is out of an abundance of caution.
My priority is the health and safety of all Americans and I will continue working on my plan to combat the virus and protect American families. Read my statement pic.twitter.com/1rVq2SK6RY— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) March 12, 2020Scott, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez placed themselves in quarantine after being in the same room as the communications director, while Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez put himself in self-isolation after meeting with Scott.
They join a list of U.S. government officials who are under self-quarantine, including Senator Ted Cruz, and representatives Paul Gosar, Doug Collins, Matt Gaetz, and Mark Meadows.
Scott and Suarez met with Bolsonaro at an event in Miami, while Graham met with the Brazilian president and President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. The communications director posted a photo of himself standing next to Trump on Instagram.
Scott told Spectrum Bay News 9 that he currently has no symptoms. He believes he did not directly interact with the infected person. However, Scott chose to keep himself away from the public.
“What physicians have told me...I'm not high-risk of getting anything,” said Scott. “I don't have any symptoms, but they said you're better off to be quarantined.”
He said part of why people are self-quarantining and reacting to coronavirus is because of the unknown.
Even under quarantine, Scott plans to continue working on legislation. His offices will still be fully operational.
“I'm fine...I'm more worried about making sure that we have the right response,” said Scott. “Let's figure out how to keep people safe and to do that we got to keep people informed.”
Copyright 2020 WUSF Public Media - WUSF 89.7