Rep. Norman Tests Positive for Breakthrough Case of COVID-19

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 30, 2020. Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) announced on Thursday that he has contracted a breakthrough case of COVID-19.

Norman, who said he has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 since February, released a statement saying that he tested positive.

“After experiencing minor symptoms this morning, I sought a COVID-19 test and was just informed the test results were positive,” he wrote. “Thankfully, I have been fully vaccinated and my symptoms remain mild.”

Norman said he will be in quarantine for the next 10 days.

It comes just days after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced that he has a breakthrough COVID-19 infection, despite being fully vaccinated against the virus.

Graham was the first senator in several months to test positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. He was also the first publicly known breakthrough case among members of Congress.

“I started having flu-like symptoms Saturday night and went to the doctor this morning,” the senator wrote on Twitter. “I feel like I have a sinus infection and at present time I have mild symptoms.”

The breakthrough cases come as the Delta COVID-19 variant spreads across the United States, and shortly after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) altered its COVID-19-related guidance telling fully vaccinated people to wear masks in some indoor areas.

Brian Monahan, the Capitol’s attending physician, issued a memo last week stating that masks will once again be required on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The mask mandate was initially put in place at the start of the pandemic last year by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who ruled that all members and aides must wear masks in the halls of the House except when they are speaking.

However, the mask requirement was lifted in June when the CDC updated its guidance to state that people fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus, were generally no longer required to wear masks or social distance.

Norman was one of three Republican lawmakers to sue Pelosi after he was fined $500 alongside Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) for not wearing masks on the House floor in May.

The lawmakers said at the time that the face coverings are “oppressive” and “nothing but a political tool.”