Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has tested positive for the coronavirus and has been isolating it for ten days, his office announced Tuesday.
Gianforte, a Republican, was tested “out of caution” on Monday after first showing symptoms on Sunday, according to a statement issued by ABC FOX Montana.
Gianforte received his first dose of vaccine at the end of last week. But according to CDC guidance, it takes two weeks after a second dose of vaccine – or two weeks after the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine – before a person is fully vaccinated.
Government Greg Gianforte receives a recording of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine from pharmacist Drew Garton at a pharmacy in Walgreen on Thursday, April 1, 2021 in Helena, Montana. (Thom Bridge / Independent record via AP)
CORONAVIRUS IN THE US: STATE-BY-STATE DISTRIBUTION
The president’s wife of Montana showed no symptoms of coronavirus and is waiting for her test results, the governor’s office said in the announcement and the governor’s close contacts were notified of his positive test. Gianforte was sworn in in January and has since been tested regularly for the virus.
As Montana and other northern plains were hit hard by the coronavirus late last year, former Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock has instituted a nationwide mandate. Gianforte recalled it in February after signing a law protecting businesses against coronavirus liability.
Most people who contract the coronavirus experience only mild to moderate symptoms, if any symptoms, and recover completely. But nonetheless, the pandemic killed more than 500,000 Americans because it spread widely in the United States and the world.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.