Kaine, Holton test positive for COVID-19 antibodies

Senator, wife experienced "mild" virus cases in March and April

Published May 28, 2020 by Kate Andrews

Sen. Tim Kaine announced Thursday that he and his wife, George Mason University interim President Anne Holton, have both tested positive for COVID-19, having taken antibody tests recently. He said in a statement that both have been symptom-free since mid-April.

“I tested positive for the flu earlier this year and was given standard medication to treat it,” Kaine said in a statement. “The symptoms lingered and I continued to receive treatment from my physician for the flu through mid-March. At the end of March, I experienced new symptoms that I initially thought were flu remnants and a reaction to an unusually high spring pollen count.”

Holton then had a fever, followed by congestion and eventually a cough, he said. Both talked to their physicians in early April, who said it was possible both had mild cases of COVID-19, but they were not tested then because of the national testing shortage. “We were both at home in Richmond, working remotely and isolated from others. By mid-April, we were symptom-free,” Kaine said.

In May, Kaine and Holton were given antibody tests, which test for the presence of COVID-19 antibodies in the bloodstream after the illness has subsided; most Virginians are given PCR tests that test saliva and are performed when a patient is exhibiting symptoms of the virus.

Holton said in a tweet that thanks to “stay-at-home guidance, we didn’t expose our vulnerable family, friends and colleagues.” Kaine said in his statement that although the presence of antibodies “could make us less likely to be re-infected or infect others, there is still too much uncertainty over what protection antibodies may actually provide,” and they will continue following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

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