Jackson, Miss. (WDAM) – After a coronavirus outbreak at the highest levels of the White House, with the president and First Lady now infected, Speaker of the House Philip Gunn reflected Friday on how COVID-19 affected at least 30 of his coworkers at the State Capitol.
“I was very blessed and fortunate that my case was very light and the little symptoms and was able to recover in short order, but I have some members who really got, they got hit hard,” Gunn said.
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann described his experience with COVID-19 as a flu at first, but then it got more difficult for him to move.
“I personally could hardly get out of bed some days. My challenge was to walk 100 steps. As y’all know, I’m pretty active. So it is very difficult. I am hopeful and prayerful that the President’s COVID is not as severe as mine or worse,” Hosemann said.
Three days before President Trump tested positive for COVID-19, he met with Governor Tate Reeves and held a joint press conference with socially-distanced podiums to discuss rapid COVID-19 tests that would soon be going to states all over the nation, including Mississippi.
Reeves told Y’all Politics he met with Vice President Mike Pence more than the president. In video and photos from those meetings, none of those leaders wore masks.
“I spent the vast majority of my time with Vice President Pence and the Coronavirus Task Force. We obviously spend a little bit of time with the president, but it was at the press conference in an outdoor venue in which very, very strict protocols were maintained with respect to the president and social distancing,” Reeves said to Y’all Politics Friday morning. “And so I feel fine right now, [I] feel great, and don’t have any reason to believe that under current protocols, that it would be necessary for me to to self quarantine, I’ve done it before. And should that become necessary, I’ll certainly, certainly do so.”
Gunn said those who remain skeptical about the virus need to hear how it’s affected his colleagues.
“There are members of my house who can give testimony about how difficult it can be. And I hope people will listen to that. And we certainly pray for our president, we pray for all of our nation’s leaders,” Gunn said.