RALEIGH, N.C. _ U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, who announced on Friday that he had tested positive for COVID-19, is now symptom-free, his spokesman said Monday afternoon.
Tillis, R-N.C., will continue to self-isolate, according a statement released by his office. He has been quarantining at his home in Huntersville since his positive test result.
"Senator Tillis feels great and has regained his sense of taste and smell," the statement read. "He is no longer exhibiting any symptoms and will continue to self-isolate. Senator Tillis and his wife Susan remain grateful for the outpouring of prayers and well wishes they've received from North Carolinians."
Tillis attended a White House ceremony on Sept. 26 to announce the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett for the vacant seat on the Supreme Court and met with her in Washington on Wednesday before casting a Senate vote on Thursday and returning to North Carolina. Several people who attended the Barrett event, including President Donald Trump, have subsequently tested positive.
Trump was admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center on Friday for treatment that has included experimental drugs and steroids, but tweeted on Monday that he planned to leave that evening and his doctors said he met standards to be discharged, the Associated Press reported. On Sunday, Trump left the hospital to drive past supporters on the street in the presidential motorcade.
Susan Tillis, Tillis' campaign staff and Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham, who debated Tillis in Raleigh on Thursday, have all tested negative. Cunningham was scheduled to be tested again Monday.
A Tillis spokesman had said Sunday that the senator's only lingering symptom was his inability to taste or smell.
Tillis' positive test and the discovery of Cunningham's romantic text exchanges with a California political consultant who is not his wife combined to upend the race for Tillis' seat over the weekend.
