Washington State Sen. Doug Ericksen tested positive for COVID on a trip to El Salvador and died today in Florida.

You might remember Ericksen as the strident anti-vaxxer who went to El Salvador, contracted COVID, and then begged for monoclonal antibodies (Regeneron) be flown there because he was stranded and in hospital. Someone later flew him on a private plane to Florida about a month ago where he battled the virus before succumbing today.

Source: Seattle Times

State Sen. Doug Ericksen, a stalwart conservative, former leader of Donald Trump’s campaign in Washington and an outspoken critic of COVID-19 emergency orders, died Friday. He was 52.

Ericksen had said last month that he tested positive for the coronavirus, although his cause of death was not immediately confirmed on Saturday.

“We are heartbroken to share that our husband and father passed away,” Ericksen’s wife, Tasha, and his two daughters said in a prepared statement Saturday. “Please keep our family in your prayers and thank you for continuing to respect our privacy in this extremely difficult time.”

Ericksen, a Republican from Ferndale, had been in El Salvador, where he tested positive for the virus that causes COVID. He wrote last month to his Republican colleagues asking if they could help him get treatment.

“I took a trip to El Salvador and tested positive for COVID shortly after I arrived,” he wrote. “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 (Regeneron). I have a doctor here who can administer the iv, but the product is not available here.”

Ericksen eventually arranged a medevac flight to a Florida hospital, a former state Senate colleague told the Bellingham Herald.