California Gov. Gavin Newsom tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday after displaying mild symptoms, according to his spokesman Alex Stack.
Newsom will be working remotely and self-isolating for at least five days, Stack wrote in a text message to reporters. He added that Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, tested negative.
Newsom still plans to participate in a press conference on Thursday via Zoom with California Atty. General Rob Bonta.
The infection marks the second time Newsom has had COVID-19; he also had it in May 2022.
The governor’s illness comes about a week after he rescinded California’s COVID-19 state of emergency, which had given him sweeping executive powers to protect the state from an unpredictable and deadly virus, but also became a flash point. political critic among people who were angry about the restrictions he imposed early in the pandemic.
As of February 28, more than 12 million Californians, about 1 in 3 people in the state, have tested positive for COVID-19, according to data from the California Department of Public Health. Since the pandemic began, 100,424 deaths in California have been linked to the virus.
