New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin has tested positive for COVID-19 — just days after attending the state Democratic Party’s convention featuring Gov. Kathy Hochul and Hillary Clinton.
“I tested positive for COVID today. Thankfully, I’m vaxxed, boosted, and in good spirits, since I’m only experiencing mild symptoms,” Benjamin said Sunday evening in a tweet.
The lieutenant governor addressed the convention Thursday, posting a video on Twitter of himself taking the stage while not wearing a mask.
He and Hochul later held hands on stage while both were maskless to acknowledge their party nominating them to their respective offices, a Twitter photo shows.
Afterward, a maskless Benjamin greeted people, including some with hugs, in the lobby of the convention, which was held at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel in Manhattan.
Roughly half of those who gathered for the two-day Democratic convention masked up.
Roughly half of the hundreds who gathered for the two-day Democratic convention masked up, while the rest did not. The event required attendees to be fully vaccinated but did not mandate masks. The city advises people to wear masks in an indoor public setting regardless of their vax status. The state’s own mask guidance for vaccinated people in indoor settings was not immediately clear.
Clinton — a former presidential candidate and US secretary of state, as well as ex-New York senator — delivered a speech at the event and only took her mask off to speak, said New York Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs to The Post on Monday.
“Everybody was masked around Secretary Clinton when she spoke,” Jacobs noted.
Jacobs added that all attendees were required to fill out a health questionnaire before entering and to show proof of full vaccination. Everyone also had their temperature taken at the door.
This is an excerpt from the New York Post.
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