Texas Governor Greg Abbott has tested positive for COVID-19, his office said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Governor Greg Abbott today tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. The Governor has been testing daily, and today was the first positive test result. Governor Abbott is in constant communication with his staff, agency heads, and government officials to ensure that state government continues to operate smoothly and efficiently,” the statement said.
“The Governor will isolate in the Governor's Mansion and continue to test daily. Governor Abbott is receiving Regeneron's monoclonal antibody treatment,” it added.
"Governor Abbott is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, in good health, and currently experiencing no symptoms. Everyone that the Governor has been in close contact with today has been notified. Texas First Lady Cecilia Abbott tested negative," concluded the statement.
Abbott reportedly attended a crowded meeting of the Republican Club at Heritage Ranch on Monday evening. Local media reported that the event was "packed" and "almost no one wore a mask."
The Regeneron antibody treatment that Abbott is receiving is the same treatment that was given to former President Donald Trump when he tested positive for COVID-19 in October of 2020.
The drug, made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, is designed to prevent infected people from developing severe illness. Instead of waiting for the body to develop its own protective immune response, the drug imitates the body’s natural defenses.
The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization to the antibody treatment in November of 2020.
After he was released from the hospital where he was treated for his bout with COVID-19, Trump published a video message in which he praised the Regeneron antibody cocktail and said he would work to get Regeneron and similar drugs available to everyone.
“They gave me Regeneron and it was, like, unbelievable. I felt good immediately. I felt as good three days ago as I do now,” he said at the time, adding, “These are things that nobody even thought of a few months ago. I view these, I know they call them therapeutic, but to me it wasn’t therapeutic. It just made me better. I call that a cure.”