AOC tests positive for Covid after controversial Florida trip

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has tested positive for Covid-19 just days after she was spotted maskless in Florida.

The New York representative is experiencing symptoms and is “recovering at home”, a statement from her office said on Sunday. “The congresswoman received her booster shot this fall and encourages everyone to get their booster and follow all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance,” it added.

Her test result came just days after she was seen partying without a mask at a packed outdoor event in Miami, even as Covid-19 cases driven by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus continue to soar across the United States.

She was also photographed maskless outside a restaurant on 30 December at the Miami beach.

Her winter getaway has been heavily criticised by Republicans on social media, including Florida governor Ron DeSantis, with many calling her a hypocrite for not following strict pandemic rules.

“Welcome to Florida, AOC! We hope you’re enjoying a taste of freedom here in the Sunshine State thanks to Ron DeSantis’s leadership,” a post from the governor's Twitter account read on 31 December.

On 3 January, the governor at a press conference blasted “lockdown politicians” who have been escaping to Florida.

“If I had a dollar for every lockdown politician that decided to escape to Florida over the last two years, I’d be a pretty doggone wealthy man. Congresspeople, mayors, governors, you name it,” Mr DeSantis said.

Replying to the tweet, Ms Ocasio-Cortez asked if the governor has been “inexplicably missing” for two weeks. “If he’s around, I would be happy to say hello. His social media team seems to have been posting old photos for weeks,” she added.

Her home state New York has been among those regions severely hit by Covid, with a significant rise in hospitalisation in the past few weeks.

On Saturday, New York reported a record 90,132 new Covid-19 cases, taking the state’s tally past 4 million total infections since the onset of the pandemic. New York is the fourth state to surpass 4 million infections, after California, Texas and Florida, Bloomberg reported.

Meanwhile, the CDC on Sunday said that 246.8 million eligible people in the US had received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 207.7 million were fully inoculated.