Gov. Pritzker contracts COVID-19, experiencing mild symptoms

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has contracted COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms of the respiratory disease, state officials announced Tuesday.

Pritzker underwent routine testing after being notified of several recent close contacts who had tested positive for COVID-19.

He was one of 3,805 new infections reported Tuesday by Illinois Department of Public Health officials. There have been 3,511,067 COVID-19 infections recorded statewide since the outset of the pandemic in March 2020.

State officials said the governor was prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid, which is intended to reduce the effects of the virus.

Paxlovid is available via prescription to most adults, and is especially recommended for those with any underlying health conditions or those who have compromised immune systems.

Officials noted Pritzker is fully vaccinated and one of more than 838,000 eligible Illinois residents who are also double boosted, according to figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The governor will work from home while he recovers, officials said.

Pritzker was forced into quarantine multiple times because of close contact with someone who tested positive for the virus during the first year of the pandemic, but this is the first time he has actually tested positive, officials said.

Meanwhile, IDPH records show COVID-19 hospitalizations crept back up to 1,412 patients overnight. Of those hospitalized with the virus, 152 are in ICU beds. Public health officials blame the increase of infections on the highly contagious omicron subvariants BA.5 and BA.4. While these viruses are more contagious, they don't appear to cause the same level of hospitalizations and deaths as the original omicron variant.