Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Monday, Jul 20, 2026

The First Member Of Congress Has Tested Positive For The Coronavirus

Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican, and Utah Democrat Ben McAdams have become the first members of Congress to announce they tested positive for COVID-19.

Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart and Ben McAdams announced Wednesday that they have tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the first members of Congress to do so since the pandemic was declared.

Diaz-Balart, a 58-year-old Republican from Florida, said he began experiencing symptoms on Saturday “including a fever and headache,” according to a statement from his office. He was informed that he tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, on Wednesday.

"I want everyone to know that I am feeling much better,” the lawmaker said in the statement. “However, it is important that everyone take this extremely seriously and follow CDC guidelines in order to avoid getting sick and mitigate the spread of this virus. We must continue to work together to emerge stronger as a country during these trying times.”

Later on Wednesday, McAdams announced his diagnosis on Twitter, saying he got tested after developing "a fever, a dry cough and labored breathing."

He added that he continued to work from home under self quarantine.


At the start of the 116th Congress, the average age of House representatives was 57.6 years, and the average age among senators was 62.9 years, according to the Congressional Research Service. Many members are in their seventies and eighties, putting them at the highest risk for the disease.

While the House is currently out on recess with members back home in their districts, the Senate has continued to work in spite of the national recommendation that people not gather in groups of more than 10 people. The House is expected to return as well; both chambers are working on legislation to address the coronavirus.

Although Diaz-Balart and McAdams are the first members of Congress to be diagnosed with the disease, several others have self-quarantined in recent days after contact with someone who has been tested positive. This includes Sen. Ted Cruz and Reps. Matt Gaetz and Doug Collins, all of whom did so after coming into contact with a person last month at the Conservative Political Action Conference who was diagnosed with the disease. Gaetz and Collins each also met with President Donald Trump following the conference.

Cruz extended his original self-quarantine after learning he had interacted with a second person who tested positive. He concluded his quarantine Tuesday.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a top ally of Trump's, also self-quarantined on Thursday, March 12, after coming into contact with at least two individuals who tested positive for the disease. He announced on Twitter on Sunday night that his test came back negative.

Graham had been at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property the weekend of March 7 with the president as well as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, whose press secretary recently tested positive.

Democratic Rep. Julia Brownley was the first member of Congress to self-quarantine after coming into contact with a person who tested positive who was not at CPAC. Sen. Rick Scott announced last week that he, too, was self-quarantining after being in contact with a member of the Brazilian delegation who tested positive.

“My office was alerted today by the Brazilian Embassy that a member of President Bolsanaro’s delegation tested positive for Coronavirus. On Monday, I met with [Bolsanaro] in Miami, and while I do not believe I interacted with the infected person, that individual was in the same room as me,” Scott said in a statement.

Scott said he had no symptoms and was quarantining out of an abundance of caution.

Rep. Jason Crow, who served as one of the Democratic impeachment managers, announced Tuesday that he was self-quarantining as well after interacting with a constituent who tested positive.

Diaz-Balart is not the first major Florida politician to test positive for the disease — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said last week that he had contracted COVID-19 after meeting with Bolsonaro.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Spain Defeats Argentina in Extra Time to Win Second World Cup
Turkey Explores S-400 Transfer to UAE in Bid to Rejoin F-35 Program
US Retaliates Against Iran After Two American Troops Killed in Jordan
Proposed U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Pact Could Permit Limited Uranium Enrichment Under International Safeguards
Why Kentucky Fried Chicken Became KFC—and Why the False Explanations Persist
Iran Claims It Destroyed Bahrain’s Main Artificial Intelligence Center in Missile and Drone Strike
Ukrainian Drones Strike Wildberries Warehouses Deep Inside Russia
Reported CIA Mission Helped Clear the UAE’s Path to Advanced US AI Chips
Artificial Intelligence Capital Fuels Markets While Governments and Regulators Face Mounting Strategic Tests
China’s Moonshot’s Kimi K3 Narrows the Gap With Anthropic Through Scale, Openness and Lower Cost
The Ledger Will Not Trust on Faith
Passenger Bound for Germany Refused to Sit Beside a Woman on a Plane — Then Slapped a Flight Attendant
Ukraine’s Leadership Rift Spills Into the Streets as Protesters Target Army Chief
The Ten World Cup Finals That Defined Football History
Smartphones Are Getting More Expensive, Sales Are Collapsing, and Even Apple Admits: "Prices Will Rise"
Leadership Change and Strategic Rivalry Redraw the Political Map
The AI Race Enters Its Infrastructure Era
Britain Nationalises British Steel to Protect Scunthorpe Production and Strategic Supply
Thomas Tuchel Faces Fierce Backlash After Tactical Retreat Costs England World Cup Final Berth
A Quiet Bastille Day: France Grapples with World Cup Heartbreak and Leftover Fireworks
Spain in Ecstasy: "We Feel Unbeatable, We Taught the Whole World a Lesson"
Harvard Astrophysicist to Lead U.S. Scientific Advisory on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena
Emergency Sirens Activated Across Bahrain as Interior Ministry Issues Shelter Directives
World Cup Visitors Turn American Big-Box Stores Into Souvenir Stops
Netflix Weighs Always-On Channels, Bundles and Short-Form Video
The AI Invoice Shock: Layoffs Didn't Save Managers Money — They Cost Them More
Concern: Sexually Transmitted Bacterium Among Men Develops Antibiotic Resistance
Passenger Partially Pulled Out of Ryanair Jet After Cabin Window Fails Mid-Flight
Severe Heatwave Drives Dangerous Ground-Level Ozone Pollution Across Two Thirds of European Union
The Physical and Electronic Barriers Disrupting Domestic Wireless Networks
France and Morocco Open World Cup Quarter-Finals as Collina Defends Refereeing
Tech Pulse: The Future of AI and Screen Culture
Global News Briefing: Escalating Geopolitical Tensions and Corporate Shakeups
Global News Brief: Escalating Conflicts, Public Health Crises, and World Cup Drama
Europe's Growing Struggle with Extreme Heat and Air Conditioning
Anthropic Reengineers Agentic Architecture to Shift Autonomous Workplace Automation to the Cloud
Logic Flaw in Windows 11 Permission Architecture Silently Consumes Hundreds of Gigabytes of Local Storage
Apple Advances Late-Stage Operating Systems with Fourth Beta Deployments
Global Crisis Alert: Escalating Middle East Tensions and UK Political Upheaval
Japanese Technology Firm Fujitsu Launches Advanced Artificial Intelligence Tool for Corporate Disclosures
South Africa Officially Launches Nationwide Campaign for Highly Contested Local Government Elections
United Kingdom Commits Additional Funding for Unexploded Ordnance Clearance in Laos
Singapore Announces Stringent New Greenhouse Gas Regulations for Commercial Cooling Systems
Cambodia and Thailand Hold High-Level Border Security Talks at United Nations Headquarters
Myanmar Military Government and China Sign Major Agreement to Upgrade Media and Cultural Cooperation
Knife Attack at Swiss Train Station Leaves Three Injured in Suspected Act of Domestic Terrorism
Transnational Extortion Gang Threatens Canadian Police With Army of One Thousand Armed Operatives
Australia Imposes Forty-Two-Day Quarantine on Cruise Ship Passengers Following Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak
International Monetary Fund Unlocks Seven Hundred Million United States Dollars for Sri Lanka Following Economic Reforms
Australia Launches Record One Point Four Billion Dollar Lawsuit Against Chemical Giant 3M Over Contamination
×