CHICAGO, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Governor of the U.S. state of Illinois J.B. Pritzker has tested positive, his office said on Tuesday.
Pritzker is experiencing mild symptoms and has been prescribed the anti-viral medication, Paxlovid, his office said in a statement.
The governor, who is fully vaccinated and double boosted, will follow CDC guidelines by working from home, the statement said.
Pritzker was in quarantine Monday as a precaution after being notified of several close contacts testing positive for the virus.
Pritzker made a decision last week to end a coronavirus vaccination mandate for college students and faculty in the state, and to reduce testing requirements for unvaccinated health care workers in areas where the virus isn't rapidly spreading.
The number of COVID-19 infections has been increasing in the United States as a new, highly contagious Omicron subvariant is driving infections even among the fully vaccinated.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in the country has exceeded 89.7 million, with over 1 million related deaths, the latest data from Johns Hopkins University showed.
As of Sunday, Illinois had confirmed a total of 3.51 million COVID-19 cases and 38,755 related deaths, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Shikha Jain, CEO and co-founder of the grassroots health care worker organization Illinois Medical Professionals Action Collaborative Team, contributed the infection increase to the lack of emphasis on wearing masks in indoor public spaces during this phase of the pandemic. "We are not leading using science or public health recommendations based on what we know works," she said. ■
