The office for New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced Sunday that the Congresswoman tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing symptoms. The announcement came alongside positive results for three other members of Congress as Omicron overwhelms the U.S. and sweeps through Congress.
“Representative Ocasio-Cortez has received a positive test result for COVID-19. She is experiencing symptoms and recovering at home,” Ocasio-Cortez’s office announced with an official statement posted to her Twitter account.
The statement did not mention what kind of symptoms the Congresswoman is experiencing or when she began quarantining at home.
According to NBC News, Reps. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., Sean Casten, D-Ill., and Young Kim, R-Calif., also announced positive tests over the weekend. At the tail end of 2021, other Congress members such as Rep. Bobby Rush and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker announced their positive tests as well.
“The Congresswoman received her booster shot this Fall, and encourages everyone to get their booster and follow all CDC guidance,” Ocasio-Cortez’s office wrote.
The country is currently averaging 700,000 new coronavirus cases a day. According to USA Today, eight Americans are testing positive every second and just in the past week the U.S. reported about 4.91 million new cases. The highly contagious Omicron variant is also proving to be more resistant to the vaccine than previous variants since it arrived on the scene in December.
Ocasio-Cortez’s home state of New York has been hit hard by the winter surge. NBC reports that 90,132 new positive cases were reported in New York on Saturday, breaking a single-day pandemic record just before the Congresswoman’s announcement.