Politics

Three Senators Test Positive For COVID In One Day

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Sens. Roger Wicker, Angus King and John Hickenlooper all tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday, their offices announced.

Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi, and King, an Independent from Maine who caucuses with Democrats, each announced that they had tested positive Thursday morning and were experiencing mild symptoms. Hickenlooper’s statement came hours later, saying that he too was positive.

All three senators were vaccinated.

Wicker said that he was in “good health” and quarantining. He tested positive in Mississippi, and said he is being treated by his Tupelo-based physician.

King said that he got tested after he began to experience symptoms yesterday. “While I am not feeling great, I’m definitely feeling much better than I would have without the vaccine,” he said. “I am taking this diagnosis very seriously, quarantining myself at home and telling the few people I’ve been in contact with to get tested in order to limit any further spread.”

Hickenlooper wrote Thursday afternoon that while he was positive, he was “grateful for the vaccine (& the scientists behind it!) for limiting my symptoms,” and urged people to get vaccinated.

The announcements come amid regional coronavirus surges driven by the delta variant, especially in areas where vaccination rates are lower. While the vaccines have been extraordinarily effective in preventing hospitalizations and death, breakthrough cases have become more common.

Wicker, King and Hickenlooper are not the first vaccinated senators to test positive; South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham tested positive earlier in August, and has since fully recovered.

I am very glad I was vaccinated because without vaccination I am certain I would not feel as well as I do now. My symptoms would be far worse,” Graham then said.