Kaine says he still has tingling sensations, hot spots after coronavirus infection

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) says he is still experiencing lingering symptoms following his COVID-19 infection. 

Kaine revealed the lingering effects during a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday.

Kaine, who is a member of the committee, said that he has “weird, neurological symptoms” one year later.

“I have these weird, neurological symptoms one year later. They’re not debilitating, they’re not painful, but they’re weird and they’re 24/7,” Kaine said, according to The Washington Post.

Elaborating on his comments to reporters, Kaine said that he sometimes feels a tingling sensation all over this body and feels migrating hot spots, the Post reported.

“It just shows how tricky this virus is, and it also suggests that the long-term consequence in our health system is probably a lot bigger than we’re thinking of right now,” Kaine said, according to the newspaper.

The Virginia Democrat said in May that he tested positive for antibodies of COVID-19, which indicates that he may have previously had the disease. He was the first senator known to have had antibodies who didn’t previously disclose a diagnosis.

Kaine said at the time that he tested positive for the flu through mid-March 2020, but had new symptoms at the end of March that he associated with the flu and allergies. He also said that his wife, Anne, had symptoms linked with COVID-19 but didn’t get tested at the time.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that some reported long-term effects of COVID-19 include joint pain, chest pain and headaches as well as some neurological symptoms.

It’s unclear how common the symptoms are or how long they can persist, but symptoms can still occur in people who are not hospitalized and those who experienced mild symptoms.