Anti-Mask Alaska State Senator Gets COVID-19, Touts Unproven Treatments
Alaska state Sen. Lora Reinbold, a Republican who was banned from an airline earlier this year for refusing to comply with its mask policy, said Tuesday she tested positive for COVID-19 and touted a “recipe” of unproven treatments, including the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin.
Another state Republican, Sen. David Wilson, also tested positive, and both are quarantining at home, the Anchorage Daily News reported. A third GOP senator, Click Bishop, said he was feeling ill, but reportedly tested negative for the virus.
“Its my turn to battle Covid head on... game on! Who do you think is going to win? When I defeat it, I will tell you my recipe,” Reinbold wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday night.
She said she was “completely unimpressed” with instructions to take Tylenol after her positive test, calling it a “bad recipe” from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Department of Health.
The CDC says on its website that health care providers may recommend acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, to reduce fever.
The lawmaker then detailed a cocktail of vitamins and supplements she was taking, as well as aspirin and ivermectin, a drug often used for deworming livestock that has not been shown to work as a COVID-19 treatment and may have dangerous side effects. Inappropriate use of the drug has become a problem after it was touted by right-wing media personalities.
“I am blessed to have gotten Ivirmectin the “de -covider.” My Vicks steamer has been a God send! My naturopath gave me tips too- that I am sure will work! I will update you in a few days. I plan to keep my promise to stay OUT of the hospital- some of them seem like scary places these days,” Reinbold wrote in her post.
Reinbold has been a vocal opponent to COVID-19 safety measures. She was slammed by Alaska’s Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy in February for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and the state’s virus response.
She was barred from flying with Alaska Airlines in April after she refused to comply with its mask policy. She had previously complained about the airline on Facebook, saying it was “part of mask tyranny.”
Last month, she asked to be excused from legislative sessions until next year, saying she can’t travel to the state capital because she was banned from flying on the only airline with service from her district.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
