SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Nov. 22, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes has tested positive for COVID-19. The confirmation came eight days after his diagnosis.
“Despite being fully vaccinated, Attorney General Sean Reyes was surprised to learn he has tested positive for COVID last week,” says a statement Reyes’ office sent to Gephardt Daily on Monday morning.
“He had been fighting a cold and had tested negative days earlier. He is following all the necessary steps to quarantine from his family and to keep the public safe. His family has all tested negative.”
Reyes tested positive last Monday, Nov. 15, his office confirmed.
Reyes is the second public official in the last week to confirm a COVID-19 diagnosis. Utah House Majority Leader Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, revealed last week that he had tested positive and was unvaccinated.
Challenging mandates
Reyes has recently made headlines, joining attorneys general from multiple red states in lawsuits challenging the Biden administration’s attempts to impose federal vaccination requirements.
The first suit was aimed at an executive order forcing workers for federal contractors to be vaccinated or tested. The second suit challenged the vaccination and testing requirements to be imposed on all businesses with more than 100 employees. In a third lawsuit, Reyes joined 11 other states in requesting an injunction to stop enforcement of the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, a move Reyes referred to as the Biden administration’s overreaching ‘job or jab’ COVID-19 vaccine mandate.”
“As I’ve stated before, President Biden can pretend to be an emperor, but America is a free republic, not a dictatorial state,” Reyes said in a previous statement. “Vaccines may be a powerful counter to the COVID epidemic, especially for those without natural immunity.
“But the choice to get vaccinated is a deeply personal one that should be made free of government threats and cudgels. Forcing that decision upon the American people is not only counterproductive but also blatantly illegal. And the President knows it.”
Utah COVID-19 numbers
As of Friday’s update by the Utah Department of Health, Utah had suffered 582,929 documented cases of COVID-19 and 3,428 known deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
State records show that, as of Friday, 1,788,050 Utahns are fully vaccinated. The state’s estimated population stands at 3.34 million.
