BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – State Representative Randy Fine (R—Palm Bay) on Wednesday became the first known elected official in Brevard to test positive for the novel coronavirus.
"I have the COVID," he told FLORIDA TODAY over the phone.
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Fine, who — along with his family— has been in self-quarantine since last week when he found out he had been in contact with a known positive case, said his Tuesday PCR test, the fourth test he took altogether, came back positive on Wednesday afternoon.
His symptoms for now were "like a cold" consisting of a recurring cough and running nose and feeling run-down, and had persisted since Friday when he was first tested along with his wife, Wendy, and children, David, 8, and Jacob, 12. Wendy tested positive on Monday, while Rep. Fine and his two sons confirmed the infection on Wednesday, following the Tuesday nasal swab.
"We are all feeling sick, to some degree, but nothing that would alarm us, if it weren't for (it being) COVID," he said.
In the vast majority of COVID-19 cases symptoms are mild, but the disease is known to linger for days if not weeks and patients have been known to suddenly and rapidly worsen in condition.
The thought of that, "sends jolts of fear through my body," Fine said.
"People should take it seriously," he said. "The (CDC) guidelines are true. It's very communicable. And, you know, if one person in your household gets it, then everyone in your household has a good chance of getting it."
"People should take precautions and, hopefully, we'll be fine," he added, noting that in Brevard some 6% of cases have been hospitalized and 1.4% have died.
"So, our odds are good, but you know, it's still scary."
He noted that Wendy, who was symptomatic earlier, had lost her sense of smell and taste, but he had not yet.
Fine said his experience was a "good anecdote" for the problems surrounding testing reliability, noting that all the rapid tests he and his family took came back negative. He also noted that even though he was symptomatic for days prior it was not until Tuesday's PCR test that COVID-19 was confirmed.
Fine noted that for many in Brevard, which so far has recorded nearly 4,000 cases, the coronavirus may have seemed something distant as few people might personally know someone who has contracted the virus.
"I didn't know anybody in Brevard County who actually had it until last week," he said.
Fine is not the first state lawmaker to test positive. Shevrin Jones, a Democrat from South Broward County, holds that unwelcome distinction. But Fine is the first known GOP lawmaker with COVID-19 in the state House.
Fine, who has gained some renown for his frequent and sometimes colorful Facebook live updates and postings about the coronavirus in Brevard County, sharing and explaining data and prevention guidelines, said he hopes being open about his experience will help people better understand the seriousness of the pandemic.
"And I've been taking it seriously... But, it shows that you can take it seriously and you can still get it."
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon is a watchdog reporter at FLORIDA TODAY.
Contact him at 321-355-8144, or asassoon@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @alemzs