Three senators announce positive COVID-19 tests in single day

Three senators announced within hours of each other on Thursday that they had tested positive for the coronavirus, despite each being fully vaccinated.

Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Angus King (I-Maine) and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) said they had tested positive in what is known as a breakthrough case, when fully vaccinated individuals test positive for COVID-19. It marks three known breakthrough cases among senators within 24 hours.

The positive tests come as senators have been back in their home states for roughly a week and aren’t expected to return to Washington, D.C., until mid-September.

Senators spent hours on the Senate floor together last week, on Aug. 11, before leaving town.

The Senate was in session for roughly 20 hours starting Tuesday morning through early Wednesday to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill and approve Democrats’ budget, with senators together for much of that time.

Their announcements Thursday bring the total number of known COVID-19 breakthrough cases among senators to four. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) became the first earlier this month when he announced that he had tested positive despite being fully vaccinated.

Significance: The vaccines work as intended. They’re not meant to prevent you from getting sick entirely, though many people do not experience noticeable symptoms if they have a breakthrough infection.  None of the senators needed to be hospitalized.