Nov. 23 (UPI) — Two more U.S. House of Representatives members have announced they have tested positive for COVID-19 as the virus surges throughout the country.
Reps. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., and Joe Courtney, D-Conn., announced separately on Sunday that they have tested positive for the coronavirus, adding their names to a growing list of U.S. politicians who have fallen ill to the disease.
Steil said in a statement published on Twitter that he took the COVID-19 test Sunday after experiencing mild symptoms on the weekend.
“The test results came back positive,” he said. “Following CDC guidelines, I am immediately quarantining and will continue serving the people of southeast Wisconsin from my home in Janesville.”
Courtney announced in a statement on his website that he tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday night.
He said he has been self-isolating since last week after learning he was “inadvertently exposed to someone who would later test positive for COVID-19.”
“Upon learning of that initial exposure, I immediately began following the strict isolation guidelines laid out by the CDC and by my doctor while I waited to get a coronavirus test,” he wrote. “After my first test came back negative, I continued to isolate but began to experience mild symptoms.”
He underwent another test, the results for which came back Sunday.
Last week, several U.S. politicians announced positive COVID-19 tests, including Reps. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
The announcements on Sunday came as coronavirus cases continued to surge in the United States.
With more than 12.2 million infections and more than a quarter-million deaths, the United States is the sickest country in the pandemic, and on Sunday health officials reported 142,732 new cases after registering a record 196,004 on Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
