The latest Covid-19 surge is creating record-high positivity numbers and impacting all parts of Washington. A growing number of political figures recently announced breakthrough cases.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced Monday morning on Twitter that he tested positive for Covid-19—despite being fully vaccinated and boosted—and is “feeling fine at the moment.”
Over the weekend, the New York Times reported that Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts) and Cory Booker (New Jersey) both tested positive with more breakthrough cases. They were both tested after experiencing mild symptoms. Fellow Democratic representative Jason Crow of Colorado also announced he tested positive with a breakthrough case of Covid after returning from an official-delegation visit to Ukraine. Earlier in December, Kentucky representative Brett Guthrie, a Republican, announced a positive test and mild symptoms.
Last week, DC Ward 8 councilman Trayon White announced he had tested positive, saying “We need to shut it back down and should not be unmasking.” Washington Football Team quarterback Taylor Heinicke also tested positive.
The Congressional lawmakers who tested positive all urged the public to get vaccinations and booster shots in the face of the Omicron surge. In the District, a record-breaking 844 new cases were reported Friday—causing Mayor Muriel Bowser to reinstate the District’s mask mandate. In Maryland, Covid-19 hospitalizations are up 150 percent in the past two weeks—though Governor Hogan told Fox News on Sunday that he’s not considering reinstating lockdown measures, and criticized Prince George’s County Public School officials for switching to all-virtual learning through January 14.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
