Jim Thompson

Northwest Florida Daily News

As Air Force One rolled down a runway at Orlando Sanford International Airport on Monday, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a last-minute passenger on the presidential aircraft, got a message from his chief of staff.

Gaetz, who had appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on Feb. 27, had taken a photograph with someone who was later determined to have been carrying the coronavirus, his chief of staff’s message said.

In the days after that exposure, Gaetz’s itinerary took him to, among other places, Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

'I was quite serious':Rep. Matt Gaetz denies he wore gas mask to make light of coronavirus after constituent die

On board Air Force One on Monday, as soon as he got his chief of staff’s message, Gaetz told someone that he needed to go into isolation immediately.

“I was very matter of fact,” Gaetz said Tuesday.

He was placed in an unoccupied office aboard Air Force One, with the door closed, for the flight back to Washington, D.C.

Self-quarantining:Matt Gaetz is self-quarantining after being exposed to coronavirus at CPAC, a week after gas mask stunt

SRC:Santa Rosa County coronavirus patient dies

Coronavirus in Panhandle:Panhandle beaches bracing for coronavirus tourism impacts over spring break

In addition to President Donald Trump, passengers aboard Air Force One on Monday included National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien and Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell.

On Tuesday, the congressman was en route by car —alone — to Okaloosa County, where he was awaiting word from the White House Physician’s Office as to whether he had contracted the coronavirus.

He was the only person aboard the aircraft to be tested for coronavirus, Gaetz said.

“I wasn’t a planned passenger” aboard Air Force One, Gaetz said. He was asked aboard the aircraft at the last minute by the president to discuss ongoing issues with regard to Florida’s continuing recovery from 2018′s Hurricane Michael, which devastated a wide swath of the state’s eastern panhandle.

Even though he was isolated, Gaetz participated in the discussion, providing verbal answers to an aide who brought written questions from the meeting. Gaetz said he subsequently disposed of the paper containing the questions.

Once on the ground at Joint Base Andrews on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., Gaetz was taken by government vehicle to a government location for coronavirus testing. He declined to be more specific Tuesday about that aspect of his experience.

The president insisted on speaking with him briefly before he departed Air Force One, Gaetz said. Also according to Gaetz, Trump appears to be taking steps to protect himself from contracting the virus. During a ride in the presidential limousine in the days before Air Force One left Orlando, Gaetz said, he saw the president frequently using hand sanitizer.

By late Monday afternoon, Gaetz left Washington by private vehicle.

“I couldn’t stay in a hotel,” he said from the car as he arrived in Okaloosa County at mid-morning Tuesday, where he plans to spend the remainder of his self-imposed quarantine.

Instead, he said, “I slept in a Walmart parking lot somewhere off (Interstate) 85.”

In recent days, Gaetz has faced some criticism for his March 4 decision — six days after his then-unknown exposure to the coronavirus carrier — for wearing a gas mask onto the House floor for a vote on an emergency $8.3 billion appropriation to battle the spread of coronavirus.

On Tuesday, he reiterated his position that members of Congress, in constant touch with the public, and frequently in crowded public spaces like airports, are very much susceptible to contracting diseases.

“We touch everyone we meet,” Gaetz said, explaining that taking selfies with constituents and supporters, as he did at CPAC, is a necessary and important part of the job of being a member of Congress.

“I wasn’t making light of the situation,” Gaetz insisted Tuesday. “I only wish I had worn the gas mask at CPAC.”

A Santa Rosa man in Gaetz’s Northwest Florida congressional district has died after contracting coronavirus. The man, in his 70s with underlying health problems, died Friday.

In the meantime, Gaetz said his self-imposed quarantine will end at around 2 p.m. Thursday, marking the 14th day since his appearance at CPAC.

Fourteen days is the time within which symptoms of coronavirus are expected to manifest themselves, and is the recommended quarantine period for someone who might have the respiratory virus.