Rep. Joseph Morelle (D-N.Y.) announced on Sunday that he has tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the latest breakthrough case to be reported in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Morelle said he tested positive for the virus after experiencing mild symptoms, adding that his symptoms remain mild because he is fully vaccinated.
“After experiencing mild symptoms, I have tested positive for COVID-19. I have followed all guidance from the Center for Disease Control & my physician and will remain isolated until it is safe to resume official duties. Thankfully, I’m fully vaccinated so my symptoms remain mild,” Morelle wrote in a tweet.
He also urged others to get inoculated against COVID-19 to protect themselves from the “severe impacts” the virus can have, writing that his “experience could have been much different” without the vaccine.
Morelle is the seventh fully vaccinated House member to test positive for COVID-19 since July. Reps. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Sharice Davids (D-Kan.), Troy Nehls (R-Texas), Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) and Darren Soto (D-Fla.) have all announced positive tests.
Two House Republicans — Reps. Clay Higgins (La.) and Barry Moore (Ala.) — have also said they tested positive for COVID-19 this summer, but it is not clear if they were vaccinated.
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Angus King (I-Maine) and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) have also said they tested positive for COVID-19 in breakthrough cases.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that while breakthrough cases, in which fully vaccinated people test positive for COVID-19, are expected, inoculated individuals who test positive for the virus are less likely to develop serious illness.
The majority of recent coronavirus-related hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S. have been among people who have not received the vaccine, illustrating the effectiveness of the shots in protecting against serious illness.
The Capitol physician reestablished the House mask mandate in July as the highly contagious delta variant spread in the U.S.