Cory Booker tests positive for COVID

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Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., announced on Sunday night he has tested positive with a breakthrough case of the coronavirus.

In the statement posted to Twitter, Sen. Booker said that he has received two doses of the coronavirus vaccine and has received the booster shot. He first began feeling symptoms on Saturday, according to the tweet.

"I learned today that I tested positive for COVID-19 after first feeling symptoms on Saturday. My symptoms are relatively mild," Sen. Booker tweeted.

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Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., arrives at the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday after bipartisan congressional talks on overhauling policing practices ended without an agreement. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) ((AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite))

Sen. Booker said that his symptoms are "relatively mild" and encouraged people to get vaccinated.

"I’m beyond grateful to have received two doses of vaccine and, more recently, a booster – I’m certain that without them I would be doing much worse," he said.

Sen. Booker is the second Democrat to announce a positive coronavirus test on Sunday, as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., announced she tested positive on Sunday as well.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) talks on the phone before the start of the Senate Democrats weekly policy lunch at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, U.S., December 14, 2021. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)

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"I regularly test for COVID & while I tested negative earlier this week, today I tested positive with a breakthrough case," Sen. Warren tweeted on Sunday. "Thankfully, I am only experiencing mild symptoms & am grateful for the protection provided against serious illness that comes from being vaccinated & boosted."

"As cases increase across the country, I urge everyone who has not already done so to get the vaccine and the booster as soon as possible - together, we can save lives," Sen. Warren added.

The comments come amid an increase of coronavirus cases nationwide, as Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Friday that the current seven-day average of coronavirus cases is at near 119,500 per day.

Hospital admissions have raised around 4% compared to the previous week, and daily deaths have increased by over 8%.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing to examine an update from Federal officials on efforts to combat COVID-19 on Tuesday, May 11, 2021, on Capitol Hill, in Washington. (Greg Nash/Pool via AP) (Greg Nash/Pool via AP)

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Dr. Walensky said that preventative measures must be taken as the omicron variant spreads more throughout the country.

"We have vaccines, we have boosters, and we know multi-layer prevention strategies — masks in public indoor settings, practicing physical distancing, frequent handwashing, improving ventilation, and testing to slow transmission — are vitally important, especially as we prepare for more Omicron and even if you are vaccinated and boosted," Dr. Walensky said.

According to the CDC, there were 156,754 new cases of the coronavirus nationwide on Friday.