Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is in quarantine after confirming he tested positive for COVID-19 during the last week of December.
In a KHOU 11 report, his campaign stated that Patrick has since been retested and received negative results, though he will remain in isolation through the end of the week.
"His symptoms were mild and no one else in the household was infected," Patrick Campaign Senior Advisor Allen Blakemore told the station. "He continues working from home and will return to a public schedule by the end of the week.”
Patrick's positive test came just as Texas was running out of sotrovimab, the only monoclonal antibody treatment known to be effective against the omicron variant, the report states. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who himself tested positive for COVID-19 last year, has since sought federal assistance for testing.
In a tweet Nov. 6, Patrick highlighted the fight against President Joe Biden's vaccine mandates while stating he had been vaccinated himself.
“Texas leads AGAIN, blocking @JoeBiden vaccine mandate. I’m vaccinated & encourage others to do their own research. The final decision MUST be left to the individual, NOT the government. It’s called #freedom,” Patrick wrote in his tweet.
According to the Texas Tribune, Patrick’s diagnosis comes alongside a number of Texas officials recently diagnosed with COVID-19, including Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Fort Bend County Judge KP George.
Both Patrick’s and Gov. Greg Abbott’s offices confirmed that Patrick had not been around Abbott last week when he tested positive.
This comes as the Texas Tribune reports the state is in the midst of an omicron variant surge that began last month. At the time of publication, Texas’ positivity rate was at 26.5%, compared to the height of the pandemic when state officials said a positivity rate above 10% was cause for concern.