NJ Democrat tests positive for COVID-19

Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) announced on Tuesday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 in a breakthrough case of the virus.

Kim said that he had been warned by a contract tracer that he had been exposed to a positive COVID-19 contact and had rapid tests available to check himself.

A spokesperson for Kim told The Hill he had not been at the House Democratic retreat in Philadelphia last week.

Kim’s office said in a statement that the congressman would be working from his home in New Jersey.

“I caught COVID on 2yr anniversary of pandemic. Yes I feel miserable. Woke up in middle of night with fever, but I’m not scared like I would have been year or 2 ago,” Kim tweeted. “That doesn’t mean I’m not worried. Have elderly family and 4y/o still not vaxxed that I pray will not get sick.”

“I think it’s important to keep some reflection on the last two yrs. We’ve been through a lot. We have a lot of resilience. None of us had ever been through anything like this before. We had to be more adaptive than probably any other time in our lives,” he added. “But it also came at great cost. Some time in the next few weeks we will hit 1 million killed in our country.”

Several House lawmakers tested positive for the virus after attending the House Democratic retreat, including Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.)

According to data analyzed by The Hill, more than one-quarter of all Senate and House lawmakers — one Independent, 69 Democrats and 82 Republicans — have had the virus.