Ericksen reportedly in Florida after testing positive for Covid-19 in El Salvador

State senator Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale), who tested positive for Covid-19 in El Salvador and asked state legislators for help, is now in stable condition in Florida, the Bellingham Herald is reporting. 

The state senator took a medevac flight back to the U.S., former state representative Luanne Van Werven (R-Lynden) said in an interview with the Herald in a November 19 article titled, “State Sen. Ericksen sickened by Covid in El Salvador. Here’s the update on his condition.”

“It was obviously serious when he was back in El Salvador, but he’s definitely on the mend,” Van Werven said.

Ericksen, who represents the 42nd district in Whatcom County, told Seattle-based KIRO Radio November 12 he was fighting the virus in the country he’s known to frequent often.

This comes after an email circulated on Twitter of Ericksen asking GOP state lawmakers for help to find monoclonal antibodies, which he says are not available in the country, to treat his Covid-19 symptoms. Ericksen tested positive shortly after arrival, he said in the email.

“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,” he wrote to House and Senate lawmakers, circulating on the unofficial Twitter account, Rotunda Tweets and confirmed by multiple news outlets. “I have a doctor here who can administer the iv, but the product is not available here.”

Ericksen, 52, went on to ask the Republican lawmakers if they knew how to send him the Regenron product, which can reduce the risk of becoming increasingly ill from Covid-19. He asked for the treatment to, ideally, be flown overnight.

Ericksen’s vaccination status is unclear, as well as his purpose for travel to El Salvador.

Throughout the pandemic Ericksen has been outspoken on his disfavor for governor Jay Inslee’s Covid-19 emergency proclamations, and called on the governor to resign in late October after the governor’s persistence to mask and vaccine mandates.

Ericksen has been tied to El Salvador in the past. Olympia’s newspaper, the Olympian, reported earlier this year the state senator had missed more votes during the virtual legislative session than any other Washington state lawmaker in 2021, in part, due to travels to the Central American country. There, he was observing the country’s February elections, invited by the vice president, the Olympian reported.

Ericksen has been in office since 2011. He didn’t respond to a phone call by press time.