Wearing a smile, a beard and a doctor's smock, Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul posted on his Twitter page Tuesday that he no longer has the coronavirus and is volunteering at a Bowling Green hospital.
"I appreciate all the best wishes I have received. I have been retested and I am negative," Paul said. "I have started volunteering at a local hospital to assist those in my community who are in need of medical help, including coronavirus patients. Together we will overcome this!"
Paul, a Bowling Green Republican and an ophthalmologist, announced March 22 that he tested positive for COVID-19.
His office said then he was asymptomatic and was tested out of an abundance of caution due to his extensive travel and event schedule.
Paul, 57, said he was not aware of direct contact with anyone infected.
Paul attended a fundraiser for the Speed Art Museum in Louisville on March 7, which was attended by a woman who later tested positive for COVID-19. Others in attendance included Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer. Fischer's wife later tested positive for COVID-19 and Fischer remains in self-quarantine. Yarmuth also self-quarantined and Beshear tested negative for the novel coronavirus.
Paul said he did not come in contact with the person and continued to go about his business.
Some of his Senate colleagues criticized Paul for not immediately self-isolating while he waited several days for the results of his test, but he said he was asymptomatic.
Paul was the first U.S. senator to test positive for COVID-19.
His lung was damaged after a 2017 assault by a neighbor.
