Rep. Raul Ruiz, who tested positive for the coronavirus last week. reported that his temperature reached 101.3 degrees but he was breathing OK after four days.
“Around this time in the evening I get a fever,” Ruiz wrote in a Facebook status update posted Saturday from the Washington, D.C. area at 6:27 p.m. EST. “This time my fever got worse and went up to 101.3F.
“Once the shaking chills start I’ll bury myself under blankets. I’ll hunker down tonight and check my vitals. I’m breathing ok. My oxygenation is above 96% and pulse below 71 consistently. If either of those changes, which I do not expect them to, I’ll go to the hospital. I appreciate your kindness.”
Ruiz, D-Palm Desert, said in a statement released Tuesday that he had taken multiple COVID-19 tests over the previous 72 hours in preparation for attending the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. He said he received an initial negative last weekend but tested positive for COVID-19 Tuesday morning and was unable to attend.
Ruiz, 48, is a physician. He represents the 36th District that stretches across much of Riverside County, from San Jacinto east to California’s border with Arizona. In December, he was elected chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.