New Mexico Democrat tests positive for COVID-19 breakthrough case

New Mexico Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D) announced on Tuesday that she had tested positive for COVID-19. 

“Today, I tested positive with a breakthrough case of COVID-19, though I am fully vaccinated and boosted,” Stansbury said in a statement. “I am currently quarantining at home following medical guidance after experiencing respiratory symptoms.” 

She also expressed gratitude to the health care workers, scientists and researchers working on the front lines of the pandemic. 

“It is more important than ever to do our part by getting vaccinated, boosted, and masking up to protect our communities,” her statement added. “I urge all New Mexicans to get vaccinated as soon as possible and to take good care and look out for one another.” 

Also on Tuesday, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, announced that he had tested positive for the virus and was “glad that he has been vaccinated and boosted.”

The lawmakers join the growing list of political leaders who have tested positive for breakthrough cases of the virus in recent weeks, including Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Reps. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

Last week, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who is unvaccinated, also tested positive for the virus and said he had experienced cold and allergy symptoms for one day “but seem[s] to be over it.”

Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said breakthrough cases are “expected,” the agency noted that those cases tend to cause less severe illness than the infections of unvaccinated individuals.