GOP Maine lawmaker who rejected vaccines and masks appears to have COVID with his wife

State Representative Chris A. Johansen, a Republican lawmaker in the Maine House of Representatives, and his wife are said to have contracted COVID-19. Johansen has, in the past, dismissed the seriousness of the ongoing pandemic and joined other Republicans in Maine in flouting the mask rules.

Johansen was apparently suspicious of his condition when contacted by the local Portland Press Herald, saying only that “he wasn’t feeling well” and hung up before he could be rushed for an elaboration. But Crash Barry, a writer for the left-wing newspaper Mainer, tweeted an excerpt from a phone call with a man resembling Johansen saying, “Look, I have COVID and I’m really, really sick and I just came from I don’t have time to talk to you today. “

News week has contacted Johansen’s office to confirm this report and seek comment, but has not had a response yet.

The wife of GOP lawmaker Cindy Johansen confirmed her diagnosis of COVID-19 separately in a Facebook post. In the mail, she claims to have passed out in her garage and that her “legs were like rubber” at one point. She is considered to be at a higher risk of hospitalization for COVID due to her asthma.

Johansen and his wife have both shared social media posts in the past dismissing the ongoing pandemic and making fun of vaccines, the Press herald underline.

Johansen also has a habit of flouting mask regulations set for Maine State House, for example appearing there without a mask in a January video shot with six other Republicans. He was also among GOP lawmakers in May who clashed with police at the Maine Capitol Building over failure to follow mask rules.

Maine, along with the rest of the United States, is seeing a further increase in COVID-19 cases. Officials attribute this, overall, to the prevalence of unvaccinated people and the emergence of new strains, most notably the Delta variant, which are more infectious than the original novel coronavirus.

Despite this, Maine does well with vaccinations compared to other states. According to the Mayo Clinic, 68 percent of Maine residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while 63 percent are fully immunized. The latter statistic is the third in the United States, behind Vermont and Massachusetts.

Johansen is the state representative for the 145th District of Maine, located at the eastern end of the state along the border with Canada.