Anti-Mask Governor Has COVID-19

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and his wife tested positive Wednesday for COVID-19 after she came down with mild symptoms, the Hill reports. "I want everybody to know that myself and the first lady are both fine," Parson said in a Facebook video. "Right now I feel fine. No symptoms of any kind. But right now we just have to take the quarantine procedures in place." The AP notes that Parsons, who opposes mask requirements, appeared at a "TARGET BBQ" with other Missouri GOP candidates on Friday. State health officials are now contact-tracing to see who he's come in contact with in recent days.

"Surprisingly it's not as big a number as you might think because while they might be in a room with 1,000 people, the number of people who were literally with them for 15 minutes, right up next to them, is actually a smaller number," said Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams. Parson got tested after his wife Teresa came down with a cough and nasal congestion and tested positive earlier Wednesday. Only one other governor has tested positive so far: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, who has recovered and donated plasma to help others with COVID-19. (More coronavirus stories.)