Florida AG Ashley Moody tests positive for COVID after being in DeSantis’ delegation in Texas
Ashley Moody, the Republican attorney general of Florida, tweeted on Wednesday that she has tested positive for COVID-19.
Moody, 46, had been vaccinated for the virus this year, she said.
“Thankfully, I am only experiencing mild symptoms and my family is in good health,” Moody tweeted. “I want to encourage Floridians to be vigilant about their health.”
The news of Moody’s positive test came four days after she flew on the state plane with Gov. Ron DeSantis and Senate President Wilton Simpson to the U.S.-Mexico border in Del Rio, Texas, for a press conference with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
At the press conference, which was in an open-air airport hangar, Moody also came in close contact with dozens of state lawenforcement officers.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Rick Swearingen, Florida Highway Patrol Colonel Gene Spaulding, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Colonel Brian Smith and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton were also at the press conference and interacted with Moody.
DeSantis’ office did not respond to a text message and email seeking comments late Wednesday on whether the governor would get tested for COVID-19 or take any precautions after coming in close contact with Moody over the weekend.
DeSantis received a COVID-19 vaccine this year.
Simpson tested positive for COVID-19 last December, just hours before he was to oversee the state’s awarding of 29 electoral votes to President Donald Trump. At
the time, limited numbers of coronavirus vaccines were just beginning to roll into the state.
Moody’s positive coronavirus test is the second high-profile infection reported among vaccinated Florida elected officials this week. U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, said on Tuesday he had contracted the virus despite his own vaccination. Like Moody, Buchanan, 70, said he is experiencing mild symptoms.
Although the coronavirus vaccines have proven effective in preventing severe illness, they are not a surefire prevention against getting COVID-19. Florida is in the middle of a summertime coronavirus wave, with the state reporting about 6,500 cases every day for the seven-day period ending July 15.
Hospitals across the state are adding COVID-19 patients at rates that are alarming to some officials. The extremely contagious delta variant of the virus is spreading quickly. But across the state, healthcare professionals are reporting that the patients they’re treating are largely unvaccinated.
Justin Senior, the CEO of the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, said he believes Florida hospitals will be able to withstand the surge in large part because of the protection offered by vaccines.
“What becomes dangerous from a publichealth standpoint is if we see a variant that’s really evading the vaccines,” Senior said. “We’re not seeing that.”