Not a joke. The Times is reporting it. BuzzFeed is reporting it.

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz jokingly wore a large gas mask on the House floor when the chamber voted on a coronavirus spending bill last Wednesday.

“Mockingly” or “sneeringly” rather than jokingly.

By Monday, his office announced the Florida lawmaker was in self-quarantine after coming into contact with a person who was diagnosed with the coronavirus at CPAC, a conservative political conference, almost two weeks ago.

…

Gaetz doesn’t have any symptoms of the coronavirus, his office said on Twitter, and he has been tested for the virus, but the results haven’t come back yet. He will remain in self-quarantine until later this week, after a two-week period since coming in contact with the person expires…

Gaetz is one of four members of Congress currently in self-quarantine after interacting with a person diagnosed with the virus at CPAC last month. Republicans Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona announced Sunday night that they were going into quarantine, and Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia announced he was going into quarantine Monday afternoon.

The CDC has recommended that, as coronavirus spreads, people avoid shaking hands. Last week, after the CPAC conference, Collins visited the CDC with President Donald Trump and shook hands with the president Friday.

There’s a photo.

“This afternoon, I was notified by CPAC that they discovered a photo of myself and the patient who has tested positive for coronavirus,” Collins said in a statement Monday. “While I feel completely healthy and I am not experiencing any symptoms, I have decided to self-quarantine at my home for the remainder of the 14-day period out of an abundance of caution.”

It’s not “an abundance of caution”; it’s what the CDC is telling us to do.

Also…

I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near Trump right now, and not just because of contagion.