Sophie Sonnenfeld Photo
Chris Bowen.
SEYMOUR — Chris Bowen, the Democrat challenging state Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria, has tested positive for the coronavirus, the candidate announced Wednesday.
In a Facebook post (embedded at the bottom of the story), Bowen said he and his wife, Jenna, were tested July 22.
“There was no impetus for this other than the simple fact that we’re sometimes around people and want to be absolutely sure,” Bowen said.
Bowen said he received the positive test results Wednesday (July 29).
“We have been asymptomatic the whole time,” Bowen said, referring to his wife, who also tested positive for the virus.
He said they both feel fine.
In addition to running for state Representative to represent the 105th District, Bowen is an elected member of the Seymour Board of Selectmen.
Bowen has not been out in public since July 19, other than getting tested at Premier Urgent Care in Oxford (July 22), picking up a takeout order while wearing a mask at Pizzaro’s Pizzeria on West Street ( also July 22) and a meeting Tuesday (July 28) of the Beacon Falls Democratic Town Committee.
Bowen said the Beacon Falls event was outdoors, masks were worn and people kept apart.
“We have informed the Beacon Falls Democratic Town Committee of the exposure,” Bowen said in the Facebook post. He’s also called the pizzeria, though his doctor said the chance of transmission was low.
His doctor said he could go out in public again Sunday (Aug. 2). Bowen has not been door-to-door campaigning because of the pandemic.
Bowen said he wants to get tested in a week or two.
“I will add my name to the chorus of people pushing for better, faster testing,” Bowen said. “I tried to get a rapid test done today (July 29), and it’s just not possible; there is one rapid test site in Hartford and they won’t see me until next Tuesday. Connecticut has handled this virus better than literally any other state in the union, and we have still been let down by the utter incompetence and malice of the federal government.”
The 105th District includes Beacon Falls, Derby and Seymour.
Bowen’s Facebook post is embedded below:
