State lawmaker ill with COVID in El Salvador now in Florida

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — A former Washington state lawmaker says Republican state Sen. Doug Ericksen of Ferndale, who was sickened with COVID-19 in El Salvador, is now in stable condition at a Florida hospital after a medevac flight. The Bellingham Herald reports that Luanne Van Werven, who served with Ericksen in the Legislature from 2014 to 2020, said Friday that Ericksen is definitely on the road to recovery. The Republican wrote to his legislative colleagues last week that he tested positive for COVID-19 in El Salvador and needed monoclonal antibodies. It’s not known if Ericksen is vaccinated or why he was in El Salvador.