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Washington state senator said he fell ill with COVID-19 in November when he was in El Salvador. - At the time, he asked his GOP colleagues if they could send him monoclonal antibody treatments.
The Washington state senator who in November said he fell ill with COVID-19 while in El Salvador and asked his GOP colleagues to send him monoclonal antibody treatments hasn't appeared in weeks, raising questions about his condition and location.
In November, the Seattle Times reported GOP state Sen. Doug Erickson, 52, announced on KIRO radio he had tested positive for COVID-19 while he was in El Salvador. It wasn't clear why Ericksen had traveled to El Salvador, though it wasn't his first time there.
He was dealing with a "bad bout" of the disease, he said.
As the Associated Press previously reported, Ericksen missed numerous votes in the state Senate earlier this year when he was on a trip there.
In a November email sent to his GOP colleagues in the state, Ericksen said he had a doctor in the country who was willing to administer monoclonal antibodies but said the treatment was not available there. He asked them to send the treatment to him.
"I took a trip to El Salvador and tested positive for COVID shortly after I arrived," he wrote, according to a copy of the email obtained by the Seattle Times. "I cannot get back home, and it's to the point that I feel it would be beneficial for me to receive an iv of monoclonal antibodies (Regeneron). I have a doctor here who can administer the iv, but the product is not available here."
Insider has on multiple occasions attempted to reach Ericksen and his representatives, but has not recieved a response.
According to a report Friday from the Bellingham Herald, there has been no update about Ericksen's condition for three weeks. His legislative staff members told the outlet they were unable to provide an update on his condition.
"I really don't have any information. It's all going through the family now," Sandy Ruff, Ericksen's legislative assistant told the outlet on Thursday.
And Brad Hendrickson, the secretary of the state senate, told the Herald he had not had contact with Ericksen since the "ordeal" began last month.
Former state Rep. Luanne Van Werven, who on November 19 said Ericksen was in stable condition at a Florida hospital after arranging a medevac flight from El Salvador, told the outlet she wasn't able to provide an update on his condition.
As the Associated Press reported, parts of Ericksen's district have been hit with flooding, damaging some 1,900 homes, businesses, and other buildings. Ericksen's legislative counterparts have helped with cleanup and recovery efforts, though Ericsken has been absent from the efforts, the report said.
As a legislator, Ericksen staunchly opposed vaccine mandates.
"Nowhere is the coercive power of government more intrusive than on this issue," Ericksen said last year when he announced legislation targeting vaccine requirements, according to King5.
"We don't require flu shots and we shouldn't require COVID shots. Often people forget that our constitution puts the rights of the individual first. We shouldn't trample on it in a rush to vaccinate," he added.
It's unclear whether Ericksen had been vaccinated for COVID-19 before falling ill with the disease.