U.S. Coronavirus Patient Cleared To Go Home Coughs During News Interview, Shares Water Bottle With Daughter
A Pennsylvania man, recently cleared along with his family to leave quarantine after having a suspected exposure to the coronavirus, coughed during an interview and shared a water bottle with his young daughter.
Frank Wucinski and his 3-year-old daughter appeared on the Fox News program America’s Newsroom on Friday to talk about their experiences in quarantine and being allowed to leave.
As The Washington Examiner reports, Wucinski and his family had been to Wuhan, the Chinese city currently believed to be the origin point of the deadly virus, to attend a ceremony for his father-in-law, who had died recently. After returning to San Diego, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) placed his family in quarantine at Miramar Airbase.
Having recently been released from quarantine, Wucinski said that he and his family are just fine.
“Physically, we’re great. It’s good to be with family. It’s nice to be out of quarantine,” he said.
He also noted that at one point he was close to getting the all-clear to leave, but his daughter coughed in front of a health official. Shortly thereafter, the family was put right back into quarantine.
On the subject of coughing, Wucinski coughed throughout the interview, and he appeared to take notice.
“The cough, probably just nerves,” he said.
He also drank from a water bottle throughout the interview, at times seeming to struggle with swallowing. He shared the water bottle with his young daughter.
Still, he insists that he’s fine.
“They said I’m fine. I got tested twice, negative both times,” he said.
Fox News just interviewed a Pennsylvania man who went through the coronavirus quarantine process — but he couldn't stop coughing during the interview ? pic.twitter.com/kzoIYQM8x6
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 28, 2020
Symptoms of coronavirus, according to the CDC, include fever, coughing, and shortness of breath.
This is not to suggest that Wucinski is either sick with the virus or that he’s carrying it and possibly at risk of passing it to his daughter or to anyone else. Of course, this would only be known to him and the medical practitioners who have treated him.
Still, Twitter users were a bit concerned about the optics of someone being released from quarantine following possible exposure to a deadly respiratory virus, and then coughing throughout an interview and sharing a water bottle with a child.
“WHY IS HE SHARING HIS WATER WITH HIS DAUGHTER WHAT THE ACTUAL F*CK,” wrote one user.
“This guy is coughing non stop, touching his daughters water bottle then drinking from it & giving to back to her so that she can continue drinking. Only on @FoxNews,” wrote another.
Earlier this week, as reported by The Inquisitr, the CDC announced that it’s a matter of when, not if, coronavirus reaches the United States.
