A congressman from Alaska who once scoffed at the severity of COVID -- describing the disease as "beer virus" -- said he is now infected with it.
Rep. Don Young announced Thursday that he has tested positive for coronavirus. "I'm feeling strong, following proper protocols, working from home in Alaska, and ask for privacy at this time," CNN quoted the governor as saying. "May God Bless Alaska," the Alaska Republican added in a tweet.
His disclosure comes as the 87-year-old governor warned that healthcare and public safety infrastructures were at the peril of being overwhelmed by the fast spread of the disease.
Young, who was recently re-elected to his 25th term had, in March, downgraded the ongoing global health crisis saying that all virus-linked concerns were "made primarily by hysteria."
The Republican governor's campaign representatives did not respond to phone calls and emailed questions about when the governor got the virus, whether any members of his staff had been tested or infected with COVID and whether others had been exposed.
"I call it the beer virus. How do you like that?" Young said during a March speech at a senior center in Palmer, Alaska, in a mocking reference to the popular beverage, Corona beer.
Young holds the title of "Dean of the House" as the longest-serving member of Alaska's House of Representatives. He was first elected into office in 1973 and he is currently the state's lone representative to Congress.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the governor faces a higher risk of the virus considering his age. CDC said the greatest risk for developing serious illness from COVID is among those who are 85 years old or older.
More than 10,873,936 infections have been reported across the United States, with 20,688 tallied in Alaska, based on the latest data. However, this was not the first time that a Republican governor jeered at the pandemic. Last September, incumbent President Donald Trump underestimated the risks of the virus and said it affects "virtually nobody."
News of Young's positive COVID test results came the same day that the staff of Congresswoman-elect Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) announced that she has also been infected with the disease.
Meanwhile, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy sent an emergency text Thursday to state cellular phones with a link to a video that cautions about the rising cases of coronavirus. "No matter what you believe about the coronavirus -- the facts are the facts," Dunleavy said, as reported by Reuters.
