US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker said on Sunday they both tested positive for COVID-19 and were experiencing mild symptoms amid a nationwide surge in coronavirus cases.
Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said on Twitter she is vaccinated and boosted and regularly tested for COVID-19, and “while I tested negative earlier this week, today I tested positive with a breakthrough case.”
Booker, 52, a New Jersey Democrat, said on Twitter he had learned Sunday of his positive test “after first feeling symptoms on Saturday.” He added he had “relatively mild” symptoms and recently had received a vaccine booster. “I’m certain that without them I would be doing much worse,” he said.
There were long lines at a Capitol Hill COVID-19 testing location last week. The Senate adjourned early Saturday until January 3, 2022.
Warren’s diagnosis comes amid a surge of US COVID-19 cases.
Earlier Sunday, Warren tweeted: “As cases increase across the country, I urge everyone who has not already done so to get the vaccine and the booster as soon as possible – together, we can save lives.”
On Friday, Southwest Airlines said its Chief Executive Gary Kelly tested positive for COVID-19 after appearing at a US Senate Commerce hearing on Wednesday alongside other airline industry executives. Southwest said Kelly was vaccinated and recovering at home.
Warren and Booker are not members of the Commerce Committee.
In August, three other US senators – Republican Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Democrat John Hickenlooper of Colorado and independent Angus King of Maine all tested positive for COVID-19.
Elizabeth Warren Photo: VCG
