Mitt Romney who lost to Barack Obama in 2012 self-quarantines after exposure to Rand Paul

US Republican Senator Mitt Romney who fought against Barack Obama in 2012 US Presidential elections has gone into isolation due to exposure to a fellow Republican Senator Rand Paul who has tested positive for the coronavirus. Romney said that he would self-quarantine after Senator Paul announced he had tested positive for COVID-19. This comes hours after Paul made the announcement through his Twitter account.

"Since Senator Romney sat next to Senator Paul for extended periods in recent days and consistent with CDC guidance, the attending physician has ordered him to immediately self-quarantine and not to vote on the Senate floor. He has no symptoms but will be tested," informed Romney's team in an official statement on Sunday.

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Rand Paul test positive

US Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who campaigned against Donald Trump in 2016 Republican race has tested positive for Coronavirus. His office tweeted the information on Sunday saying that Paul has turned positive for COVID-19 and is feeling fine. It also informed that the Senator was asymptomatic and was tested out of an abundance of caution due to his extensive travel and events. 

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Paul is now going to miss a vote on Sunday afternoon for a massive Coronavirus package, due to his quarantine. Interestingly, Paul was the only Senator to vote against the $8 billion deal to provide emergency Coronavirus funds. 

Earlier, two members of the Congress, Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida and Ben McAdams of Utah also tested positive for the novel Coronavirus, adding to the urgency of Washington to pass a package to contain the outbreak of COVID-19, the disease that causes Coronavirus. Also, on Saturday, United States Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence had tested negative for the novel coronavirus.

Coronavirus cases in the US are now the fourth highest in the world after China, Italy, and Spain with the country reporting more than 38,000 positive cases and 400 reported deaths. The majority of cases are in New York, Washington, and California. 

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The Coronavirus Crisis

Presently, there are around 336,075 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which has led to the death of around 14,613 people. Meanwhile, around 97,636 have reportedly been recovered. The hardest-hit region, after China, is Italy, Iran and South Korea, where the number of cases is rising by the hour.

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(with ANI inputs)