Second Senate Judiciary Republican Tests Positive for CCP Virus

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) speaks during the Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing to examine the Crossfire Hurricane Investigation in Washington on Sept. 30, 2020. Stefani Reynolds/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said Friday that he tested positive for the CCP virus, becoming the second Senate Judiciary Republican diagnosed with the disease.

“Tonight my rapid antigen test came back positive,” he said in a statement. “I will be following the recommendations of my doctor and will be self-isolating at home for 10 days.”

He has no symptoms and feels well, the Republican said.

Tillis urged all North Carolinians to follow the recommendations of medical experts including wearing a mask, washing hands, and practicing social distancing.

He became the second member of the Senate Judiciary Committee that was infected with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) announced earlier Friday that he tested positive.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) at the CPAC convention in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 28, 2019. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

Their diagnosis raises the question of whether the hearings for President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court (SCOTUS) nominee Amy Coney Barrett, which is scheduled to start Oct. 12., will be delayed.

However, Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have said that the hearing is on track and will move forward as scheduled. McConnell suggested earlier Friday that the hearing could be done remotely.

The White House announced early Friday that both the president and first lady tested positive for the CCP virus, which emerged from China in late 2019 and causes the disease COVID-19.

The Trumps were tested after White House aide Hope Hicks tested positive for the CCP virus.

People around the Trumps were also tested, including their youngest son, Barron, Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and White House advisers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. All tested negative.

Barrett, who was nominated by Trump last week to fill the vacancy left by late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has also tested negative.

Trump is fatigued but in good spirits, White House physician Dr. Sean Conley said in a memorandum on Friday afternoon. He received a single 8-gram dose of Regeneron’s polyclonal antibody cocktail and has been taking zinc, vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin, and a daily aspirin.

President Donald Trump walks to Marine One prior to departure from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, as he heads to Walter Reed Military Medical Center on Oct. 2, 2020. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

The president has moved to the presidential offices at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center “out of an abundance of caution” and will work there for days, the White House said.

“President Trump remains in good spirits, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day. Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the president will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement earlier Friday.

The CCP virus originated from Wuhan, China, and has infected over 34 million people, claiming the lives of more than 1 million outside China, according to government data collected by Johns Hopkins University.

The Chinese regime has claimed that there are only 90,567 infections and 4,739 deaths inside China, which remains a highly doubtful figure due to the rapid spread of the virus outside of China.

It’s widely reported that the Chinese regime covered up the outbreak and refused to share information with other countries.

In America, more than 7.2 million people have reportedly been infected and over 207,000 have reportedly died with the disease. It has become a highly political issue leading up to the 2020 presidential election.