In short sequence, COVID-19 hit the families of U.S. Amy Klobuchar and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. Klobuchar’s husband John Bessler has been hospitalized for COVID-19 and Flanagan’s brother died over the weekend of complications from the disease.
Then, at 10:15 a.m., Gov. Tim Walz announced on Twitter that he was self-quarantining after a member of his security detail tested positive for the virus.
“The Governor was in close proximity to this individual late last week,” his office wrote. “While the Governor is not showing any symptoms, he will begin his self-quarantine today, Monday, March 23, 2020 until Monday, April 6.”
“The most important thing Minnesotans can do to stop the spread of COVID-19 is to stay home,” Walz said in a statement. “I’m using this as an opportunity to lead by example. Though I’m feeling healthy and not showing any symptoms, I’m going to work from home and model the protocol we are asking all Minnesotans to follow.”
The governor used his situation as a way to urge others to stay home if they can. His staff had already said he wouldn’t be ordering a shelter in place order at a press briefing today, something governors in California, Illinois, New York and Massachusetts have already done.
“Because our state must maintain essential services, not every Minnesotan is able to stay home,” he said. “Those of us who are able to work from home must do so out of respect to our health care professionals, first responders, pharmacists, grocers, child care providers, and all Minnesotans who are working to keep us safe during this crisis.”
Klobuchar’s senate office sent out a media release at 9:45 to announce that Bessler was in the hospital. He is an attorney and law professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law.
“I have news that many Americans are facing right now: my husband John has the coronavirus,” Klobuchar wrote. “We just got the test results at 7 a.m. this morning. While I cannot see him and he is of course cut off from all visitors, our daughter Abigail and I are constantly calling and texting and emailing. We love him very much and pray for his recovery. He is exhausted and sick but a very strong and resilient person.”
Klobuchar said that it has been 14 days since she was last in contact with her husband “my doctor has advised me to not get a test. As everyone is aware, there are test shortages for people who need them everywhere and I don’t qualify to get one under any standard.”
Flanagan announced on Instagram that her brother Ron had died in Tennessee. “Almost exactly two months after we buried our dad, my brother Ron passed away on Saturday,” she wrote. “To many, he’ll be a statistic: Tennessee’s second COVID-related death. But to me, I’ll remember a loving, older brother, uncle, father, and husband.
“Ron was a tough-as-nails Marine who was a big teddy bear on the inside. He never left my dad’s side during his final weeks and took care of everyone else in the way only he could,” she wrote. “His politics didn’t match mine AT ALL (and we joked about it constantly) but Ron was a very good man who had an amazing capacity to love. I miss him dearly.
“Several weeks ago, Ron was diagnosed with cancer,” Flanagan wrote. “His immune system was compromised and he contracted COVID-19. He was put in a medically induced coma and placed on a ventilator. He fought it as hard as he could but it was simply too much for his body. THIS is why we must #stayhomeMN
COVID-19 now has a personal connection to me. Please do all you can to prevent one for you.”
