Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana announced Thursday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus.
The 62-year-old physician from Baton Rouge was experiencing “mild symptoms that began this morning,” his spokesperson Cole Avery said.
“I am strictly following the direction of our medical experts and strongly encourage others to do the same,” Cassidy said in a statement.
» FROM JULY: Longtime aide for US Rep. Vern Buchanan dies from the coronavirus
The senator, who is seen regularly wearing a mask in public, was tested for the virus Thursday after learning the night before that he had been contact with an infected person.
On Wednesday the senator visited a veterans hospital in Shreveport.
Cassidy is seeking re-election in November and becomes the second U.S. senator to contract the virus, along with Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who tested positive on March 22. The next day, Sen. Amy Klobuchar announced that her husband, John Bessler, had been hospitalized with the virus. He has since recovered.
Around that same time, several other senators were forced to self-quarantine as a precaution after coming into contact with Paul and others who had tested positive.
In the months since, at least 11 representatives in the U.S. House have contracted COVID-19, according to The Hill, and all have recovered.
In late July a longtime staff member for Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan died from the coronavirus after being treated at a Florida hospital for nine days.
House Democrats introduced a bill last month that would require anyone inside a federal facility to wear a protective face mask to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The “Wear Your Mask Act,” introduced by Democratic Rep. Sylvia Garcia of Texas, would make masks mandatory inside all U.S. government facilities and for anyone standing within 6 feet of another individual in those buildings. The bill also states that an agency could forcibly “remove or deny service to an individual who fails to wear a mask.”
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said previously that he doesn’t think a mask mandate is necessary.
Cassidy faces 14 opponents on the November ballot but is favored to win election to a second term in a deep red state where he has the backing of President Donald Trump and a $6 million campaign account. His highest-profile opponent is Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins, a Democrat.
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