Arizona Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who ignored Gov. Doug Ducey (R)’s stay-at-home order, announced on Wednesday that he had tested positive for COVID-19 right before his scheduled meeting with President Donald Trump the day before.
“On Tuesday, I was called to join the President at the White House. As is protocol, all visitors are screened for the virus,” Lamb wrote in a Facebook post. “While still asymptomatic, I tested positive for the COVID-19.”
The sheriff stated that he would be self-quarantining for the next 14 days.
“Unfortunately, as a law enforcement official and elected leader, we do not have the luxury of staying home. This line of work is inherently dangerous, and that is a risk we take when we sign up for the job,” he wrote. “Today, that risk is the COVID-19 virus.”
Lamb is one of several sheriffs who have refused to enforce their governors’ stay-at-home orders amid the pandemic.
“I think people want to know that we’re going to support their constitutional rights,” he said in May, arguing that Arizona’s COVID-19 death toll of over 300 at that point was “not a significant enough number to continue to ruin the economy.”
The sheriff’s announcement was first reported by the Arizona Republic.
