BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota lawmaker and an organizer of rally to oppose COVID-19 vaccine mandates is infected with the coronavirus and did not attend the event.

Republican Rep. Jeff Hoverson said he was “quarantining.”

He told The Associated Press Monday that he is taking the deworming drug ivermectin and has not checked into a hospital. He says the virus is “like a really bad flu.”

Hoverson is a pastor and one of the most conservative members of the Legislature.

The rally scheduled for Monday at North Dakota’s Capitol aimed to encourage state lawmakers to oppose vaccine mandates.