GOP Gov. Greg Abbott Tests Positive For COVID-19 After Rejecting Mandatory Mask, Vaccine Mandates

Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a man who continues to ban mask mandates as his state battles a rising wave of new novel coronavirus cases and deaths, has tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, Aug. 18.

Abbott, who is reportedly fully vaccinated, said in a statement that he received a positive COVID-19 test on Tuesday, but is experiencing no symptoms of the virus, according to the NPR.

Despite his lack of symptoms, Abbott is receiving Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody treatment, which was used by former President Donald Trump during his own battle with COVID-19 last year, the New York Daily News said.

Abbott’s wife Cecilia has tested negative for the virus.

Abbott was last seen, before his positive COVID-19 test, attending a GOP fundraiser, where many Republicans had no masks on as they dined and talked to each other during the event, the Independent reported.

News of Abbott’s infection comes as Texas is overwhelmed by a rising tide of new COVID-19 cases, with over 16,000 new infections being reported daily. This is largely due to the rise of the more infectious Delta variant, which has infected over 100,000 people in the past week alone.

Abbott’s response to the new health crisis has been at odds with the scientific data available today. He has banned mask mandates across the state and has refused to impose lockdowns even as infections in the state continually rise.

He has also tried to blame migrants for the rise in cases, though there is no scientific proof or hard evidence that immigrants from Mexico are causing the new infections.

Hospitals in the state are so overloaded with patients that Abbott has begun asking for help from other states by sending in their own medical professionals to help with the surge, as well as mortuary trailers to help with the dead.

Over 1,500 have died in the past month alone due to the surge of COVID-19 cases. Only 46 percent of the Texan population has been fully vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins.