Broward lawmaker sick with coronavirus

State Rep. Shevrin Jones says, ‘I don’t wish this on anybody’

After several days of feeling increasingly sick, state Rep. Shevrin Jones said Wednesday afternoon he’s tested positive for coronavirus.

He has multiple symptoms of COVID-19. Jones said he feels extremely sick and wanted people to know they should take coronavirus seriously.

“Take me as an example,” Jones urged people. “Take this seriously. It’s really not a game. I don’t wish this on anybody. I feel terrible.”

Jones has asthma, which is an underlying condition that can make COVID-19 more serious, and a protein deficiency that makes him susceptible to blood clotting. During a brief phone interview, his voice sounded raspy and not as strong as usual.

He said he’s experiencing sudden escalation and then decreasing symptoms. “You feel good, then you feel terrible.” Early Wednesday, his temperature was 97 degrees; in the afternoon it suddenly increased to 101. He was at home early in the evening.

Jones said he complies with key guidelines — wearing a mask in public and social distancing. He doesn’t do something that used to be routine for a politician: shaking hands.

For months, he’s been active in disseminating public warnings about coronavirus. On April 15, Jones hosted two video town halls on the pandemic — one with Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and one with Florida’s senior Republican U.S. senator, Marco Rubio.

During the last 14 days, the period during which an exposure to coronavirus causes symptoms in people who are going to get sick, Jones said he’s shopped for groceries. He also was in a hospital emergency room the evening of June 22 and kept overnight for observation after he fainted while exercising.

Earlier in June, Jones had been at events protesting systemic racism and commemorating the death of George Floyd, but all of that was more than 14 days before he got sick.

Jones said he began feeling sick on Friday, so he laid down. On Sun

day he started experiencing chills, body aches and had some difficulty breathing. On Tuesday he went to the emergency department at Memorial Regional Hospital. He was tested at the hospital and got the results Wednesday afternoon.

Jones, 36, is in his eighth year as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from a South Broward district. He is a deputy Democratic leader in the House and chairman of the Broward Legislative Delegation.

Term limits prevented Jones from running for reelection. He’s one of six candidates in the Aug. 18 Democratic primary for a South Broward/northern MiamiDade County state Senate seat.

Candidate tests positive

Jasmen Rogers-Shaw, a candidate in the Democratic primary for state House of

Representatives District 95, said Thursday she’s tested positive for coronavirus.

The district is in central Broward, including all or parts of Lauderhill, Lauderdale Lakes, Margate, North Lauderdale and Sunrise.

Rogers-Shaw said in a statement she’s recovering at home and the “campaign will continue because we know this is bigger than us.”