GOP Rep. Mike Bost tests positive for COVID-19

GOP Rep. Mike Bost (Ill.) announced on Friday that he has tested positive for COVID-19, making him the latest member of Congress to contract the virus. 

Bost, who represents Illinois’s 12th Congressional District, said in a statement that he got tested after experiencing “a mild cough and a rapid loss of both taste and smell.” He never had a fever. 

The congressman said he is postponing public events and will instead conduct virtual events as he isolates at home.  

Any staff that’s been in close contact with him will quarantine until receiving their own test results. His office is also reaching out to any constituents he’s met with in recent days. 

“We are taking this situation seriously and will continue to serve the people of Southern Illinois while doing our best to ensure their health and safety,” Bost said. “I will provide additional updates in the days ahead and am anxious to get back to work as soon as I make a full recovery.”

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— Rep. Mike Bost (@RepBost) October 9, 2020

Bost is the latest lawmaker to contract the virus.

Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) announced on Tuesday that he tested positive for COVID-19. 

While it is unclear how Carbajal contracted the virus, the congressman interacted with Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who tested positive for the disease after attending a White House event for the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

Other event attendees, including former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) also tested positive for the disease. 

Thirteen other House members have also tested positive for COVID-19 or had a presumed case of coronavirus: Reps. Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), Dan Meuser (R-Pa.), Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), Tom Rice (R-S.C.), Neal Dunn (R-Fla.), Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.), Ben McAdams (D-Utah) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.). 

President Trump last Friday announced that he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19. Since his diagnosis, the president has been hospitalized and received several treatments for the virus including anti-viral drug remdesivir and a strong steroid called dexamethasone.