Wisconsin GOP Senator, Critic of Mask Mandates, Has COVID-19

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One of the most conservative lawmakers in the Wisconsin legislature and a vocal opponent of the mask and vaccine warrants has tested positive for COVID-19.

State Senator Andr Jacque was in hospital Monday with pneumonia. It was not clear Tuesday morning if Jacque was admitted.

“Unfortunately, I am now in the hospital with pneumonia, which I once had,” Jacque said in a message Monday to a reporter from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The Sentinel Journal first reported on Tuesday that Jacque tested positive late last week.

In an email to WPR, a spokesperson for Jacque shared a message from the senator to a reporter from Journal Sentinel. Jacque said he did not know how he contracted COVID-19.

Aside from some fatigue, which “is a long-standing health problem” for De Pere’s Republican, he was mostly asymptomatic when he tested positive after returning from Madison, he said. in the message.

“My office followed all protocols and I personally contacted the limited number of close contacts last week in case I was positive at the time,” Jacque said.

He said he did not believe any member of his staff was showing symptoms of COVID-19. However, some lawmakers this week are expressing concern about their potential exposure to the virus.

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Jacque testified Wednesday during a hearing at the Capitol in which he did not wear a mask.

State Senator Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, was in attendance at the hearing, which covered Jacques’ bill that would limit anti-racism and anti-sexism training for public servants. Larson was not aware of Jacque’s positive COVID-19 test until Journal Sentinel published his article, he said in a statement.

Presidents of committees Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, R-Fond du Lac, should have shared the information faster, he said.

“They owe it to our neighbors, staff and the Capitol Police who were in the room during those seven hours to immediately contact everyone who was in the committee room on Wednesday, so they can schedule a COVID test and follow up. the necessary precautions, ”he said. .

Similarly, Democratic State Representative Jodi Emerson d’Eau Claire was in audience with Jacque on Wednesday and did not learn of his diagnosis until Tuesday.

“As an immunocompromised person, I am particularly exposed to COVID. On behalf of myself and others at higher risk, I implore all Wisconsinians to wear masks in public and get vaccinated,” he said. she said in a press release.

Wisconsin registers an average of 1,200 new COVID-19 infections per day, according to health officials. This is a significant increase from late June and early July, when the state averaged less than 100 new cases. Authorities attribute the peak to the highly contagious delta variant.

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