Maine Democrat announces testing positive for COVID-19

Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) became the second lawmaker on Tuesday to announce he had tested positive for COVID-19 and said he would be voting by proxy while in Maine.

“This morning, I tested positive for COVID-19 for the first time. I have mild symptoms and will remain in Maine this week. While I am home, I will vote by proxy according to House rules,” Golden tweeted.

Golden’s office told The Hill that the congressman was fully vaccinated and that he did not attend the House Democratic retreat in Philadelphia last week.

Earlier on Tuesday, Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said that he had also tested positive for COVID-19 in a breakthrough case of the virus, and a spokesperson for him also said he had not attended the retreat last week.

However, three lawmakers who were at the retreat, which was attended last week by roughly half of the 222 members in the House Democratic Caucus, have tested positive for the virus: Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.).

Another lawmaker, Sen. Jean Shaheen (D-N.H.), also tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.

The development comes as the world on Saturday marked two years since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic. 

In recent weeks, states have lifted indoor mask mandates and eased other coronavirus protocols as case numbers have declined, though data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that wastewater sampling sites are showing an increase of infections.

Lawmakers are seeking to pass funding to fight COVID-19, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) saying Monday that she hopes for some of that funding to be passed in legislation this week after coronavirus funding was removed from a massive government funding bill last week.