(QCOSTARICA) Legislator Harllan Hoepelman, of the Nueva República, is the first legislator to test positive for COVID-19, as published this Friday morning by the weekly Semanario Universidad.
The Semanario says that Hoepelman sent to the weekly statements that he is at home, “in total isolation as established by health authorities.”
The legislator had stopped attending the Legislative Assembly at the beginning of September and affirms that he is “well and already recovered” because he has no symptoms.
“A couple of weeks ago I had contact with a close person who had no symptoms and days later they were positive. I immediately made the decision to carry out voluntary isolation, comply with the institutional protocols established for that purpose, and at no time did I attend the Legislative Assembly. Days later, in my voluntary isolation, I had some symptoms, so I took the test and it was positive,” Hoepelman explained.
“I was in isolation for nexus and, if you don’t have symptoms, they don’t do tests. But very close people, here in the house, had symptoms so one has to be responsible because this is very serious,” he said.
The legislator also reported that he had no really strong symptoms and that a granddaughter practically passed the contagion without showing signs of the disease.
Hoepelman is scheduled to return to the Legislative Assembly on Monday.
Other cases ruled out
Congress has had other cases of COVID-19, but they have been cases of security and administrative officials and their families.
During the month of August, legislator Ivonne Acuña withdrew from the Legislative Assembly because she had contact with relatives who had tested positive. She tested negative and was back at work.
PUSC legislator Pablo Heriberto Abarca was in isolation in September, after having contact with a positive person.
The most recent case is that of Carolina Hidalgo, the Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC) legislator, who Thursday announced through her social networks that, at 12:20 pm., she was informed that she had contact with a positive person and, as a result, would comply with the mandatory quarantine.