Republican Florida Rep.-elect Maria Elvira Salazar announced Thursday that she tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the latest member of Congress to catch the disease.
Elvira Salazar released a statement saying she had checked into the hospital on Dec. 23 with heart arrhythmia, she then later tested for coronavirus and said she will be unable to attend her swearing-in ceremony Sunday. Elvira Salazar says she will be isolating at home for the next fourteen days and will return to work when cleared by a doctor.
“I hope that you can forgive me as I have been unable to communicate through social media, but I was diagnosed with COVID-19. I am in quarantine at home & getting better each day. I look forward to hitting the ground running for my community, once it is medically permissible,” Salazar said on Twitter.
I hope that you can forgive me as I have been unable to communicate through social media, but I was diagnosed with COVID-19.
I am in quarantine at home & getting better each day. I look forward to hitting the ground running for my community, once it is medically permissible: pic.twitter.com/BHL64vbMrU
— María Elvira Salazar ???????? (@MaElviraSalazar) December 31, 2020
Maria Elvira Salazar, Republican candidate for Floridas 27th Congressional District, talks with voters at a Miami-Dade County housing facility on Election Day in Miami on November 6, 2018. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Louisana Republican Rep.-elect Luke Letlow died Tuesday from coronavirus at the age of 41. Letlow announced Dec. 18 that he tested positive for COVID-19, according to Politico. Letlow was in an intensive care unit at Ochsner LSU Health in Shreveport, La.(RELATED: Republican Representative-Elect Luke Letlow Dies Of COVID-19)
Dozens of politicians across the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19. There are at least 28 current members of the House, 19 Republicans and nine Democrats, who have tested positive, according to Fox News congressional correspondent Chad Pergram. (RELATED: Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore Tests Positive For Coronavirus)
The number of virus cases continues to rise in the United States with over 19 million cases, resulting in more than 330,000 deaths, The Washington Post reported.