Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms tests positive for coronavirus
Atlanta's mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, has tested positive for coronavirus, she announced Monday, saying "COVID-19 has literally hit home." Bottoms, a 50-year-old Democrat in her first-term, said she and her husband only experienced symptoms similar to seasonal allergies.
Bottoms, in an appearance on MSNBC, said the positive test result was a "shock" and she only decided to get tested because her husband had been sleeping more than usual.
"It leaves me for a loss of words because I think it really speaks to how contagious this virus is. We've taken all the precautions that you can possibly take. I have no idea when and where we were exposed," she said.
Bottoms, who has been considered as a potential running mate for Joe Biden, stepped into the national spotlight this year for her response to the coronavirus pandemic and her pleas for peaceful protests following the fatal shooting of a Black man at the hands of a White police officer in early June.
As of Monday, there have been more than 97,000 confirmed virus cases in Georgia, with over 2,870 deaths and over 11,900 hospitalizations, according to the state's Department of Public Health.