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WASHINGTON — Utah Sen. Mitt Romney tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, his office said.
His wife, Ann, tested negative for the virus.
"Sen. Romney tested positive today for COVID-19. He is currently asymptomatic and will be isolating and working remotely for the recommended period of time. Mrs. Romney has tested negative. Both Senator and Mrs. Romney have been fully vaccinated and boosted against the virus," according to a statement from Romney's office.
The senator's office provided no details on how, when or where Romney came to test positive or why he got tested.
In May 2020, doctors directed Romney and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to self-quarantine after being around Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who tested positive for COVID-19. Romney, who said he did not experience any symptoms, tested negative for the virus at that time.
Lee contracted COVID-19 in October 2020. He said then that he was tested after having symptoms consistent with longtime allergies.
Romney recently criticized the Biden administration for failing to ramp up testing availability ahead of the surging omicron variant.
"I think, unfortunately, the administration was wrong in not building testing capacity at a time when we all thought COVID was going away," he said in a Senate hearing this month.
In the same hearing, Romney said it would be helpful for people to know when they should get tested for the coronavirus, noting the lack of available test kits.
"Because I think a lot of individuals, myself included, get tested when there's no indication that I need to get tested, other than to just want to make sure I'm not sick. There's huge demand for tests which are in short supply, in part because of that," he said.
