Amid rising COVID-19 cases in the United States, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth says she has tested positive for the virus.
Duckworth made the announcement on social media Sunday, saying she is experiencing mild symptoms from the virus.
“I will continue working for the people of Illinois in isolation and follow medical guidance on when to return to the Senate chamber,” she said.
While exact case numbers aren’t available, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the number of COVID-related hospitalizations has been on the rise nationwide.
The last week of August, 17,418 patients were admitted to hospitals because of the virus, an uptick of nearly 16% over the previous week.
Different variants of the virus are leading to the increases, with CDC officials expected to announce new protocols for a new COVID vaccine booster dose in coming days.
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The new formulation will target descendants of the XBB 1.5 subvariant, which led to a surge in cases in late 2022 and early 2023.
That subvariant is a spin-off of the omicron variant that caused some of the worst case numbers and hospitalizations of the entire pandemic.
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