Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and his wife are in quarantine after they came in contact with someone who had COVID-19.
Kemp’s spokesman Cody Hall announced the news on Twitter Friday, noting that the pair had been tested for the illness but did not specify what the results were.
“Today, our office was informed that Governor Kemp and the First Lady were recently exposed to an individual who received a positive test result for COVID-19. Upon notification, the Governor and the First Lady received a COVID-19 test,” Hall said.
He added that per guidance from the Georgia Department of Public Health, “both the Governor and the First Lady are currently quarantining. Our office will release further details as they become available.”
#gapol pic.twitter.com/RiUUUjQ5ml
— Cody Hall (@CodyHallGA) October 30, 2020
News of Kemp’s quarantine came the same day that Republican Rep. Drew Ferguson of Georgia announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. Ferguson said he began feeling “mild symptoms consistent with a cold” on Thursday night but did not have a fever. After waking up on Friday, he said that he was experiencing a slight fever, took a coronavirus test, and found out that he was positive.
It is unclear if Kemp, also a Republican, had any contact with Ferguson in recent days, although the two men both delivered speeches in Manchester, Georgia, on Tuesday, according to the Union-Recorder.
While numbers of new COVID-19 cases peaked in late July in Georgia, the Peach State, like much of the country, has recently seen increased levels of new infections. Over the past two weeks, there has been a 15% surge in new cases and a 4% rise in hospitalizations, although there has also been a 3% drop in deaths.
In total, Georgia has reported more than 368,000 cases of the coronavirus and at least 7,737 deaths, according to the most recent tally by the New York Times.
