Sen. Warnock, Democratic congressman test positive for COVID-19

Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) announced Thursday that they had tested positive for COVID-19 in breakthrough cases.

Warnock said in a tweet that he tested positive for COVID-19 that afternoon after a “routine test.”

“I’m so thankful to be both vaccinated & boosted, and at the advice of the Attending Physician I plan to isolate,” Warnock said.

“Thanks to being fully vaccinated, I am only experiencing mild cold-like symptoms and fatigue,” DeFazio tweeted Thursday night.

The Oregon lawmaker said he would follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance and quarantine.

Warnock’s and DeFazio’s positive tests follow an influx of COVID-19 cases among lawmakers, including Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).

Collins and Warnock were both on the Senate floor earlier Thursday to vote on the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also announced Thursday that she had tested positive for COVID-19, adding that she would isolate in accordance with CDC guidelines.

Amid concerns about interactions between President Biden and Pelosi before her positive test result, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Thursday that Biden had not come into close contact with the speaker.

“All of their interactions were publicly available, I think you saw them, and that’s how that assessment is made,” said Psaki.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) are among the other political figures who have recently tested positive for the virus, with all of them announcing the test results Wednesday.

Warnock and DeFazio both used their announcements to encourage COVID-19 vaccination.

“If you haven’t gotten your shot yet, I encourage you to do so,” Warnock said.

— Updated at 9:52 p.m.