Ted Deutch under self-quarantine after son develops coronavirus symptom

Broward Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch said Thursday he’s been under self-quarantine since last weekend after his son returned home from Spain and showed one symptom of COVID-19.

Deutch said his son is feeling mostly better but lost his sense of taste and smell after returning from Spain, one of the countries hit hardest by the novel coronavirus. Spain went on lockdown on March 14 after the number of infections surged, and Spain’s parliament voted Thursday to extend the lockdown for two more weeks.

“He came back from Spain, and this weekend will be 14 days,” Deutch said Thursday during a virtual press conference with members of Congress. “He had what we thought might be a symptom, the loss of taste and smell. We’ve treated him as if he’s had it, but fortunately that’s the only symptom.”

Deutch is the third member of Congress from South Florida to self-quarantine. Miami Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart became the first member of Congress to test positive for the coronavirus last week, and is self-quarantining as he recovers in Washington. Miami Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson said she was self-quarantining out of an abundance of caution after Diaz-Balart’s positive test.

Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott also self-quarantined after meeting with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s delegation in Miami days before one of Bolsonaro’s press aides tested positive. He completed two weeks of self-quarantine on Tuesday without showing any symptoms.

Deutch said he and his wife are feeling fine, and that his son is beginning to regain his sense of taste and smell.

“Hopefully by the end of this weekend, we’ll get rid of our 14 days,” Deutch said. “We’re hopeful and there are lots of us in this situation, but there are so many people who are really sick and those are the folks that we are really worried about.”

This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 12:19 PM.