Gov. Greg Abbott speaking at a Republican event in Collin County on Monday night.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tested positive today (Tuesday, Aug. 17) for COVID-19, according to a report by The Texas Tribune.
Mark Miner, a spokesman for the governor, said Abbott is fully vaccinated and is not experiencing any symptoms. He isolating at the Governor’s Mansion and is getting the Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody treatment. He said Abbott has been testing daily, and this is the first time the results came back positive. His wife, Cecilia Abbott, tested negative.
The Tribune reports that Abbott has “kept up public appearances” in recent days. He spoke at a GOP event in Collin County on Monday night, Aug. 16, and later tweeted photos of himself at that event “addressing a maskless crowd. Less than three hours before his diagnosis was announced Tuesday afternoon, he tweeted photos of a meeting with guitarist Jimmie Vaughan.”
New COVID-19 cases, fueled by the Delta variant and lagging vaccination rights in the state, continue to surge in Texas. According to statistics on the Texas Department of State Health Services website, as of 3:45 p.m., Texas has seen 20,123 new cases in the previous 24 hours, along with 4,299 probable new cases and 96 newly reported fatalities.
Since the pandemic began last year, there have been 2,834,082 cases of COVID-19 in Texas, 519,913 probable cases and 53,196 fatalities.
— Tammye Nash
