--- title: Rand Paul Tests Positive for Coronavirus description: Senator Rand Paul has tested positive for COVID-19 his office announced, becoming the first member of the Senate confirmed with the virus. canonical: https://time.com/5807989/senator-rand-paul-coronavirus/ author: Tara Law article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-03-22T18:33:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T08:30:08.920Z article:section: Politics og:title: Rand Paul Becomes the First Senator to Test Positive for the Coronavirus og:description: Paul was the only senator to vote agains a bipartisan $8.3 billion bill intended to help fight the outbreak og:url: https://time.com/5807989/senator-rand-paul-coronavirus/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c2c748f18c2d843/698a0bdddb2987e9602651e5/Rand-Paul.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Senate Takes Up Coronavirus Relief Bill Passed By House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rand Paul Becomes the First Senator to Test Positive for the Coronavirus twitter:description: Paul was the only senator to vote agains a bipartisan $8.3 billion bill intended to help fight the outbreak twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c2c748f18c2d843/698a0bdddb2987e9602651e5/Rand-Paul.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rand Paul Becomes the First Senator to Test Positive for the Coronavirus  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Mar 22, 2020 6:33 PM UTC  U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) takes an elevator at the U.S. Capitol for a vote on March 18 in Washington, DC. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) takes an elevator at the U.S. Capitol for a vote on March 18 in Washington, DC.Getty Images—2020 Getty Images  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Mar 22, 2020 6:33 PM UTC Senator Rand Paul has tested positive for [COVID-19](https://time.com/tag/covid-19/) his office announced, becoming the first member of the U.S. Senate confirmed to have been infected by the disease. In [a message](https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/1241780756617273345?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) posted on Twitter Sunday, the senator’s office announced that he is currently asymptomatic, but “was tested out of an abundance of caution due to his extensive travel and events.” He feels “fine” but is in quarantine, the message said. “He was not aware of any direct contact with any infected person,” the statement said. “He expects to be back in the Senate after his quarantine period ends and will continue to work for the people of Kentucky at this difficult time. Ten days ago, our D.C. office began operating remotely, hence virtually no staff has had contact with Senator Rand Paul.” > [](https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/1241780756617273345) > [](https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/1241780759087677440) On March 5, Paul was [the only senator](https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll%5Fcall%5Flists/roll%5Fcall%5Fvote%5Fcfm.cfm?congress=116&session=2&vote=00066) to vote agains a bipartisan $8.3 billion bill intended to help fight the outbreak, which included money for states and local communities to fight the virus as well as funds for public agencies to invest in vaccines, tests and treatments. Last week, he was [one of eight](https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll%5Fcall%5Flists/roll%5Fcall%5Fvote%5Fcfm.cfm?congress=116&session=2&vote=00076) senators to vote agains the Families First Coronavirus Response Act last week, which expanded paid sick leave, free COVID-19 testing, as well as additional food and unemployment assistance. Paul has criticized his fellow Senators for leaning on “spending” to combat the spread of the coronavirus, and has advocated for[ alternative](https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/dr-rand-paul-announces-his-covid-19-recovery-act) [plans](https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/dr-paul-secures-senate-vote-plan-pay-federal-coronavirus-response). Two members of Congress have also tested positive for COVID-19\. Florida Republican[ Mario Diaz-Balart](https://mariodiazbalart.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/diaz-balart-tests-positive-for-coronavirus#.XnKnwtWs7AU.twitter) and Utah Democrat [Ben McAdam](https://twitter.com/RepBenMcAdams/status/1240436119210037248) announced on March 18 that they had quarantined themselves after being tested positive. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5807989/senator-rand-paul-coronavirus/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5807989/senator-rand-paul-coronavirus/"},"headline":"Rand Paul Becomes the First Senator to Test Positive for the Coronavirus","datePublished":"2020-03-22T18:33:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:30:08.920Z","description":"Paul was the only senator to vote agains a bipartisan $8.3 billion bill intended to help fight the outbreak","url":"https://time.com/5807989/senator-rand-paul-coronavirus/","keywords":["Congress","COVID-19","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c2c748f18c2d843/698a0bdddb2987e9602651e5/Rand-Paul.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara Law","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-law/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c2c748f18c2d843/698a0bdddb2987e9602651e5/Rand-Paul.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Senate Takes Up Coronavirus Relief Bill Passed By House","caption":"Senate Takes Up Coronavirus Relief Bill Passed By House","creditText":"Getty Images—2020 Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5807989/senator-rand-paul-coronavirus/","name":"Rand Paul Becomes the First Senator to Test Positive for the Coronavirus"}}]}] ```