Republican Congressman contracts coronavirus after saying he was socially distancing instead of wearing face mask

Republican representative Tom Rice has announced that he contracted coronavirus, just two weeks after appearing on the floor of the House of Representatives, without a face mask.

Mr Rice, a congressman for South Carolina, announced that he and his immediate family had contracted coronavirus, in a Facebook post on Monday, according to Business Insider.

However, on 28 May, Mr Rice told CNN that he did not feel he needed to wear a face mask while on the House floor, as he could keep a distance of six feet from other representatives.

“I do wear it sometimes on the floor,” Mr Rice told CNN reporter, Manu Raju in May, when asked why he was not wearing a facemask.

“I make an effort to...stay 6 feet away from folks in accordance with guidelines. And when I’m forced into a situation where I can’t do that — like on a plane — I do wear a mask,” he added.

In a Facebook post on Monday, Mr Rice confirmed that he and his family had contracted Covid-19, and that they were about to end their time self-isolating.

“I wanted to let you know that all 3 members of our household: Wrenzie, our son Lucas, and I all have the Wuhan Flu. We are all on the mend and doing fine,” the congressman wrote.

“Covid-19 is a serious, sometimes deadly illness. We, however, have fared well,” Mr Rice added.

In the post, Mr Rice referred to Covid-19 as “Wuhan Flu,” a term favoured by some Republican politicians, despite it being criticised for enforcing racist associations with the virus.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the name specifically does “not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual or group of people, and which is also pronounceable and related to the disease,” according to Forbes.

He reasoned that “having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing.”

The congressman explained that he “got” the virus on Monday 8 June, but symptoms for Covid-19 can take up to 14 days to appear, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This means, that despite Mr Rice and his family isolating, it is possible that he was in the House of Representatives with the virus, according to Business Insider.

The CDC published guidance earlier in the year, that recommended Americans wear a face mask or covering, when outside and unable to social distance.

“The virus can spread between people interacting in close proximity —for example, speaking, coughing, or sneezing — even if those people are not exhibiting symptoms,” the guidance read.

“In light of this new evidence, CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain...especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.”