{"id":134182,"date":"2021-08-02T21:33:21","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T21:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=134182"},"modified":"2021-08-02T21:33:21","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T21:33:21","slug":"u-s-senator-lindsey-graham-says-he-tested-positive-for-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/u-s-senator-lindsey-graham-says-he-tested-positive-for-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham says he tested positive for COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham announced on Monday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 despite being vaccinated, has flu-like symptoms and will be self-quarantining for 10 days.<\/p> \u201cI am very glad I was vaccinated because without vaccination I am certain I would not feel as well as I do now. My symptoms would be far worse,\u201d Graham, 66, wrote on Twitter.<\/p>\n The South Carolina Republican, a leading conservative voice in the Senate, said he began experiencing flu-like symptoms on Saturday and sought medical attention on Monday morning. He was later informed by a congressional physician that he had tested positive.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I have a sinus infection and at present time I have mild symptoms,\u201d Graham, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, wrote in a pair of tweets. \u201cI will be quarantining for ten days.\u201d<\/p>\n His announcement comes at a crucial time for the closely divided Senate, where Democratic leaders hope to advance President Joe Biden\u2019s agenda in coming weeks by pushing through a roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.<\/p>\n Graham is among a group of 17 Senate Republicans who have backed the bipartisan infrastructure legislation in procedural votes. The measure needs Republican votes to achieve the 60-vote threshold required for most legislation in the 100-seat chamber.<\/p>\n The Senate is split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, who control the chamber only because of Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019 tie-breaking vote.<\/p>\n It was not clear how much contact Graham has had recently with other members of the Senate.<\/p>\n A spokesman for Senator Joe Manchin, a leading Democrat on infrastructure, could not confirm whether Graham attended a recent private gathering hosted by Manchin, but added: \u201cSenator Manchin is fully vaccinated and following the CDC guidelines for those exposed to a COVID positive individual.\u201d<\/p>\n Graham\u2019s office did not respond to questions about the gathering.<\/p>\n Graham did not say whether he had tested positive for the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for a recent surge in infections in the United States, particularly Southern states with relatively low vaccination rates.<\/p>\n Forty-six percent of South Carolina’s population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, well below the national average of 58%, according to the Reuters COVID-19 Vaccination Tracker. ((here))<\/p>\n