Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, according to his office, who said the Republican is in good health and experiencing no symptoms.
Abbott, who was vaccinated in 2020, was isolating in the governor's mansion in Austin and receiving monoclonal antibody treatment, spokesman Mark Miner said in a statement.
The governor's positive test came as cases of the virus soar with the highly contagious delta variant and hospitals around the state are stretched thin. More than 11,500 patients were hospitalized with the virus as of Monday, the highest levels since January.
The positive test comes a day after Abbott tweeted a picture of himself not wearing a mask while speaking indoors near Dallas to a group of GOP supporters, most of whom were unmasked.
Jack DeSimone, president of the Republican Club at Heritage Ranch, said he did not like “to have conversations like this” and declined to comment further on Abbott's appearance with the group.
Miner said the governor’s address to the group was his only public event this week. He said Abbott tested negative Monday and that no one else on staff has tested positive.
Abbott has staunchly opposed mask mandates for public schools and this week saw defiant districts in some of the state's largest cities — which are run by Democrats — require face coverings anyway. Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, a fellow Republican, are fighting the school districts in court.
Abbott's wife, Cecilia Abbott, tested negative. The governor had been getting tested daily and Miner said “everyone that the Governor has been in close contact with today has been notified.”
__
AP writer Acacia Coronado also contributed to this report.
Updated on August 17, 2021, at 5:59 p.m. ET with the latest details.
Meet the new generation running for office in the midterm elections. Maxwell Frost, a 24-year-old Democrat, is the youngest candidate running for Florida’s 10th congressional district. A member of Gen Z (those born after 1996) Frost spoke to Cheddar about objectives that he believes are top of mind for his age bracket, including tackling gun violence, healthcare for all, and LGBTQ+ rights, especially in light of his state's recently enacted, so-called “Don’t Say Gay" law.
President Biden has announced a historic release of oil from the U.S. reserves in an attempt to cut down surging gas prices across the country. The administration will release 1 million barrels of oil per day for the next six months, marking the largest withdrawal in the nearly 50-year history of the country's emergency supply of oil. Patrick DeHaan, Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy, breaks down why the Biden administration is making this unprecedented move, and what impact it could have on prices at the pump.
The Biden administration plans to freeze federal student loan payments through Aug. 31, extending a moratorium that has allowed millions of Americans to postpone payments during the coronavirus pandemic.
Catching you up on what you need to know on April 5, 2022, with Biden's call for a war crimes trial for Putin, another arrest made in the Sacramento mass shooting, NYC rolling out a campaign against Florida’s "Don’t Say Gay" bill, an aluminum shortage potentially affecting beer and cat food cans, and more.
After a devastating mass shooting in Sacramento over the weekend that killed six people and wounded a dozen more, arguments about gun reform are also resurfacing. David Pucino, deputy chief counsel at Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, joined Cheddar News to talk about efforts to curb gun violence such as community intervention programs — and the more that needs to be done by lawmakers. "One thing that would be really important is at the federal level closing the loopholes that allow for private sales to go forward without a background check," he noted.
