House member afflicted with COVID pleads for mask mandate, saying, ‘I don’t wish this on anyone’

Florida Rep. Shevrin Jones tested positive for COVID-19 last Wednesday. Now, he uses social media to update his constituents on his condition and has called upon Gov. Ron DeSantis to impose and enforce a statewide mask mandate.

“I don’t know what it feels like to run a state of 20 million people. But, I am one of the 200,000 people who has and is suffering from this dangerous disease,” Jones said in a video update on Twitter on Monday.

“Governor, here’s where you come in: Issue a mandatory mask order,” Jones said.

The Democrat, who represents part of Broward County, first announced his COVID-19 status via Twitter on Wednesday.

“For those who think it’s a game, it’s not, I have tested positive for Covid. I feel awful, and I don’t wish this on anyone,” his initial tweet reads.

Over the weekend, Florida surpassed 200,000 positive tests for new COVID-19 cases. By Monday morning, the total was 206,447.

Jones has posted regular updates about his symptoms and overall well-being. He has described symptoms including headaches, chest pains, severe dizziness, nausea, and chills.

On Thursday, he opted to write his update on Twitter rather than posting a video, saying he’d had a bad night and an “even worse morning.”

He returned to a video format on Friday, saying that “there are some points that are unbearable. From the stomach cramps; from the muscle spasms; from the off and on temperature. At one point you’re feeling good, at another you are not feeling well.”

Jones also shared his experience with Florida contact tracing, saying in a tweet that he received a call from a contract tracer on Thursday only to get disconnected. He received no follow-up call. “If this is our tracking system, throw all of it in the ?,” he said in the tweet.

Shortly after his Monday video, Jones tweeted another update announcing that both of his parents had tested positive for COVID-19.