Another Florida lawmaker tests positive for COVID-19

Senate Appropriations Chairman Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said Wednesday he has tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the number of Florida legislators infected with the highly contagious disease to at least three.

Bradley said in a text message that he is “experiencing mild symptoms” after testing positive Wednesday morning.

Rep. Randy Fine last week announced that he, his wife and their two sons had all tested positive for the novel coronavirus, which causes the respiratory illness known as COVID-19. The Brevard County Republican said in a Twitter post Tuesday he had a fever and was having a “hard time getting out of bed” six days after his diagnosis.

“Folks, you don’t want to catch this,” Fine tweeted. In a text message Wednesday, Fine said he was “feeling better than yesterday but probably the last two days have been the worst.”

Rep. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, announced July 1 he tested positive for COVID-19. Just over two weeks later, Jones posted that he no longer was testing positive.

Florida has become a national hotspot for the virus. On Wednesday, state health officials reported a record number of deaths — 216 — associated with COVID-19. In all, 6,333 Floridians have died, according to the latest health department report, and 451,423 positive cases have been recorded.

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