Nevada Gov. Sisolak tests positive for COVID-19

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) announced Friday that he tested positive for the coronavirus, the latest governor to contract the highly-infectious virus. 

Sisolak said he is currently not experiencing any symptoms and that the virus was detected as part of a routine testing program, though he had been feeling fatigued earlier this week. He last tested negative on Feb. 6. 

The Nevada governor is isolating at the governor’s mansion, and all of his public events have been canceled. He’s also been in touch with contact tracers since he was diagnosed. 

Sisolak was last in his offices in Carson City on Thursday, and he did not clarify where he could have gotten infected. Any staff member who is considered to be a close contact to Sisolak through the tracing process will remain in quarantine.

“It was important to me to notify Nevadans as soon as possible of my positive COVID-19 test results,” Sisolak said in a statement. “I want to thank the health officials who assisted me through this process. … With my case, I want to underscore the importance of Nevadans to stay at home as much as they possibly can at this time.”

Two other people have tested positive in the governor’s office already this year, with Sisolak’s COVID-19 response director and another unnamed staffer receiving positive test results.

Sisolak’s diagnosis comes as Nevada sees an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases. The governor said there were more than 1,800 new cases in the state Thursday, and cases are growing at roughly 1,402 per day. There have been 116,737 COVID-19 cases in total thus far in Nevada.

The Republican governors of Missouri and Oklahoma and the Democratic governor of Virginia have also tested positive for the coronavirus this year.