South Carolina governor tests positive for coronavirus

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster tested positive for the coronavirus and is scheduled to receive outpatient treatment with antibodies for “mild symptoms”.

McMaster, 73, learned he had tested positive on Monday after a test “due to close contact with the COVID-19 virus,” his office said in a statement. McMaster’s wife, Peggy McMaster, 73, tested positive last week but remains asymptomatic, officials said.

Following the advice of his personal physician, the governor was scheduled to receive treatment with monoclonal antibodies on Tuesday, which his office called “a preventive measure for those with mild to moderate symptoms”. Saying that McMaster was “in a good mood” and continued to perform his official duties, his office said the governor was “showing mild symptoms with cough and mild fatigue”.

The governor took the test last week at the same time as his wife, but had a negative result at the time, his office said.

Since then, Peggy McMaster has planned to isolate for 10 days, while the governor’s office said he would be quarantined for a week while testing regularly and continuing his official duties. Given his positive test, officials said on Tuesday that the governor would isolate for the next 10 days “and monitor additional symptoms”.

On Tuesday, South Carolina public health officials announced that there were 2,055 new positive tests for the coronavirus, as well as 15 new deaths. Throughout the pandemic, there were 257,340 positive tests in the state and 4,602 confirmed deaths.

Last week, US Representative Joe Wilson also announced that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, the same day he made a speech at the House of Representatives.

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Meg Kinnard can be contacted at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.

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