Mario Diaz-Balart, a ninth-term Florida Republican on Wednesday said that he has tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the first American Congressman to contract the virus.
In a statement, Diaz-Balart, 58, said he began to develop symptoms on March 14, just hours after he left the House floor for a vote on a coronavirus response bill, a Politico news reported.
More than 400 members of Congress also voted during the early-Saturday session.
“I want everyone to know that I am feeling much better,” Diaz-Balart said in the statement.
According to the report, a hundred people have died from the deadly virus in the United States on Tuesday.
The greatest number is in Washington state, in the country’s northwest, where there were 50 deaths, followed by New York with 12 and California where there were 11.
Earlier, President Donald Trump has tested negative for the novel coronavirus.
Trump agreed to the test after coming in contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation visiting his Florida resort who have since tested positive for the virus.
Also on Wednesday, Democrat Representative from Utah Ben McAdams announced that he has tested positive for the virus which has so far infected over 8,700 people in the US and killed more than 130 others.
“My symptoms got worse and I developed a fever, a dry cough and labored breathing and I remained self-quarantined,” McAdams said in a statement.
“On Tuesday, my doctor instructed me to get tested for COVID-19 and following his referral, I went to the local testing clinic for the test. Today I learned that I tested positive.”
Meanwhile, Congress Representative Drew Ferguson said on Wednesday night that the House doctor had advised him to self-quarantine until March 27 because he “was in contact with a member of Congress on March 13th that has since tested positive for COVID-19”.
New York, the most populous US city, saw its first coronavirus death on Saturday, as store shelves were stripped bare after days of panic buying.