Sen. Amy Klobuchar Says Her Husband Has Coronavirus

MINNESOTA — U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar announced Monday that her husband, John Bessler, has contracted the new coronavirus. The Klobuchar family was notified about the positive test result Monday morning.

Bessler, who is now also battling pneumonia, began feeling ill while Klobuchar was in Minnesota and he was in Washington, D.C.

"Like so many others who have had the disease, he thought it was just a cold," the senator wrote on Medium.

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"Yet he immediately quarantined himself just in case and stopped going to his job teaching in Baltimore. He kept having a temperature and a bad, bad cough and when he started coughing up blood he got a test and a chest X-ray and they checked him into a hospital in Virginia because of a variety of things including very low oxygen levels which haven’t really improved. He now has pneumonia and is on oxygen but not a ventilator."

Klobuchar said she and Bessler have been in different places for the last two weeks, and that she is outside the 14-day period for getting sick.

"My doctor has advised me to not get a test," Klobuchar said. "As everyone is aware, there are test shortages for people who need them everywhere, and I don’t qualify to get one under any standard."

The news comes less than two days after the brother of Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan died from the coronavirus.

"I love my husband so very much, and not being able to be there at the hospital by his side is one of the hardest things about this disease," Klobuchar said.

"I hope he will be home soon. I know so many Americans are going through this and so much worse right now. So I hope and pray for you, just as I hope you will do for my husband. Meanwhile, I am working in the Senate to get help to the American people."

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 increased to 169 in Minnesota Sunday. On Saturday, the Minnesota Department of Health announced the state's first COVID-19-related death. The patient was a Ramsey County resident in their 80s. The person died March 19.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order last week ordering the temporary closure of all Minnesota restaurants and bars to dine-in customers. He also ordered the temporary closure of public places, including theaters, museums, fitness centers and community clubs.

Also read:

• Coronavirus: 169 Cases In Minnesota
• Allina Health Asks Minnesotans To Donate Face Masks
• 1st Minnesota Coronavirus Death Reported Saturday
• Stay-At-Home Guide For Minnesota: Food Delivery And More