GOP Lawmaker Who Couldn’t Fly Because She Wouldn’t Wear a Mask Now Has COVID

Alaska state Sen. Lora Reinbold — who in April was banned from Alaska Airlines over her refusal to wear a mask — has tested positive for COVID-19. Reinbold, 57, announced her positive diagnosis in a Wednesday Facebook post.

“Its my turn to battle Covid head on… game on! Who do you think is going to win?” she wrote. “When I defeat it, I will tell you my recipe.”

It’s unclear if Reinbold — who did not immediately respond to a request for comment from PEOPLE — has been vaccinated. In her Facebook post, she wrote that she was “completely unimpressed with instructions, on my positive test, that says to go home & take Tylenol.” The lawmaker added that she was “taking lots of vitamins” as well as Aspirin and was using a Vick’s steamer.

Reinbold also wrote that she had taken Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug commonly used for livestock like horses and cows that is unproven as a COVID-19 treatment: “I am blessed to have gotten Ivirmectin [sic] the ‘de-covider.’ ”

The Food and Drug Administration has explicitly warned Americans not to take Ivermectin, which health experts have said puts people at risk of developing seizures or coma, to treat COVID-19 or as a form of prevention.

The Republican continued in her Facebook post: “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.”

Flashback: Cartoon by Holly Todd published in Anchorage Press

Another Republican state senator from Alaska — David Wilson — also tested positive for COVID-19 this week. Anchorage Daily News reports that both he and Wilson are quarantining at their homes.

In April, Alaska Airlines announced it had banned Reinbold from flying with the company after footage showed the lawmaker engaged in an altercation with airline staff about their enforcement of masks.

The video was filmed at the Juneau airport, after she had reportedly refused to wear a mask properly, according to The Alaska Landmine, which first published the video.

In the footage, Reinbold can be seen wearing a mask below her mouth and nose, and talking to two employees while a police officer stands nearby.

As she attempts to enter the boarding area, another employee steps in to tell her he cannot let her enter the plane unless she pulls her mask above her nose.

After the footage was wildly shared, Airline spokesman Tim Thompson told media outlets including the Anchorage Daily News: “We have notified Senator Lora Reinbold that she is not permitted to fly with us for her continued refusal to comply with employee instruction regarding the current mask policy.”

In her own statement, published on social media, Reinbold wrote of the video: “I was reasonable with all Alaska Airlines employees.”

In other posts shared on her Facebook page, Reinbold has called masks “suffocating” and suggested that they were not a useful preventative measure — despite the health consensus otherwise.

The airline ban posed a logistical challenge for the state senator, as Alaska Airlines operates the only regular flights to the state capital from Anchorage, where Reinbold lives.

She later posted on Facebook about how she navigated to the capital, saying she used both a car and a ferry to travel back and forth — a trip that likely takes upwards of 14 hours.