Sen. Tim Kaine said Thursday that he and his wife, Anne Holton, tested positive for coronavirus antibodies earlier this month, making the Virginia Democrat the second member of the Senate known to have recovered from the disease.
Because of the national shortage of coronavirus tests, Kaine and his wife did not get tested for the virus, but they remained at home in Richmond “working remotely and isolated from others,” and by mid-April they were symptom-free, he said.
In his statement, Kaine noted that he still plans to wear a mask because it remains unclear whether those who have recovered from the disease caused by the novel coronavirus can pass it to others.
“We each tested positive for coronavirus antibodies this month,” Kaine said. “While those antibodies could make us less likely to be re-infected or infect others, there is still too much uncertainty over what protection antibodies may actually provide. So we will keep following CDC guidelines — hand-washing, mask wearing, social distancing.”
Kaine was vaulted to the national stage in 2016 when Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton selected him as her running mate, a choice that angered liberals seeking a far-left alternative.
The two-term senator was Virginia’s governor from 2006 to 2010. He previously served as lieutenant governor and as mayor and on the City Council in his adopted hometown of Richmond while working as a civil rights attorney.
Holton, an attorney who met Kaine when the two were attending Harvard Law School, is interim president of George Mason University and a former Virginia education secretary.
The father of three children, including a son who is a Marine, Kaine has been a leading voice in the Senate for curbing presidents’ powers to deploy the military without congressional approval.
In March, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) became the first member of the Senate to test positive for the coronavirus. At the time, Paul weathered criticism because he did not self-isolate while awaiting the results of his test, instead continuing to work at the Capitol and use the Senate gym.
Upon returning to the Senate earlier this month, Paul, an ophthalmologist, declined to wear a face mask, even though experts remain uncertain as to whether recovered covid-19 patients become immune to the disease.
“I have immunity,” Paul told reporters at the Capitol. “I’ve already had the virus. So I can’t get it again, and I can’t give it to anybody.”
