Missouri governor who refused to make masks compulsory tests positive for coronavirus

https://ift.tt/3kNIMDK

Missouri Governor Mike Parson, a Republican who has steadfastly refused to require residents to wear masks, tested positive for the coronavirus, his office said Wednesday.

Parson was tested after his wife, Teresa, tested positive earlier in the day. Teresa Parson had experienced mild symptoms, including a cough and nasal congestion, spokeswoman Kelli Jones said. She took a rapid test that came back positive and a nasal swab test later confirmed the finding. The governor's rapid test showed he tested positive and he is still awaiting results from the swab test.

'I want everybody to know that myself and the first lady are both fine,' Parson said in a video posted on his Facebook page.

'Right now I feel fine. No symptoms of any kind,' Parson said in the video. 'But right now we just have to take the quarantine procedures in place.'

Parson is self-isolating in the governor's mansion while his wife is isolating at their home in Bolivar in southwestern Missouri.

Parson has repeatedly urged residents to wear masks and maintain social distancing, but he has been an outspoken opponent of mask mandates, sometimes appearing at functions without one. In July, speaking without a mask at a Missouri Cattlemen´s Association steak fry in Sedalia, he reiterated his stance.

'You don´t need government to tell you to wear a dang mask,' he said. 'If you want to wear a dang mask, wear a mask.'