Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and has received a booster shot, said Tuesday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Democrat received his diagnosis via a PCR test, he said in a short video shared to his social media platforms. His wife, Gwen, and 15-year-old son, Gus, have also tested positive.
“As a dad, I’m super concerned, obviously, for my family, but everybody’s doing well,” Walz said in the video, adding that he was asymptomatic. “The fact of the matter is, we have the vaccines and we have protocols that help make this doable.”
He noted he was disappointed about having to spend Christmas in quarantine, but added: “The biggest gift we can give is staying safe and seeing our relatives into the new year.”
Walz joins a growing list of high-profile lawmakers who have announced that they’ve tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days. Over the weekend, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey said they had breakthrough infections.
And on Monday, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) revealed he had tested positive for COVID-19 after experiencing “cold-like symptoms.”
The news comes as the nation is intensifying its battle against the omicron variant, which this week became the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the U.S.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday pledged to increase support for hospitals and add testing sites in high-demand regions in response to the omicron surge. Still, he assured Americans that this winter would differ from that of 2020 thanks to the development of vaccines and therapeutics.