A Maryland man who has helped organize “reopen” protests against measures intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus says he has been sickened with COVID-19.
Tim Walters, a co-founder of the ReOpen Maryland movement, announced this week on social media that he has tested positive, the Capital Gazette and Washington Post reported.
“I was diagnosed yesterday at the ER with COVID-19 and here I am months after not wearing a mask at rallies, churches and so on and so it’s funny how capricious this thing is,” he said in a Facebook video, according to the newspapers.
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Walters, a two-time Republican candidate for the state legislature, helped organize ReOpen Maryland protests in Annapolis, on the Eastern Shore and elsewhere in Maryland.
He declined an interview request from either newspaper, which reported that he said he would not provide any information to public health officials trying to trace the spread of the disease. Walters emphasized he had contacted people he'd recently interacted with.
Gov. Larry Hogan posted a link to the Annapolis paper's story to his own Facebook page Friday.
“Our health experts are strongly encouraging anyone who attended a demonstration or mass gathering to immediately get tested for coronavirus, and they are also advised to avoid contact with vulnerable populations,” Hogan wrote.
