US Senator Joe Manchin Tests Positive for COVID-19, Experiencing Mild Symptoms

WASHINGTON, (Sputnik) - US Sen. Joe Manchin said on Monday he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms while continuing to work remotely.

“This morning I tested positive for COVID-19. I am fully vaccinated and boosted and am experiencing mild symptoms. I will isolate and follow CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines as I continue to serve West Virginians,” Manchin said via social media.

Manchin’s COVID-19 infection comes alongside US President Joe Biden’s, who tested positive on Thursday. Biden’s symptoms are almost entirely resolved as of Monday morning, according to presidential physician Kevin O’Connor.

A group of 165 staffers from federal agencies and congressional offices on Sunday sent Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer a letter urging them to guarantee the support of Manchin on climate change legislation that he has been reluctant to back amid inflation concerns.

The staffers in the letter also suggested Schumer strip Manchin of his chairmanship of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Machin and Biden’s cases are two of over 90.4 million COVID-19 infections confirmed in the United States since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine data. Over 570.3 million cases have been confirmed globally as of Monday, the data said.