Arizona State Lawmaker Admitted to ICU Over Coronavirus Complications

A state lawmaker in Arizona has been hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19, the Arizona House Democrats said on Monday.

State Rep. Lorenzo Sierra, a Democrat who represents Arizona's District 19, was taken to a hospital in Washington, D.C., on Sunday night, according to a statement from the Arizona House Democrats. He was transferred to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and was "resting comfortably" while intubated in the intensive care unit on Monday morning, the statement said.

Sierra and his wife, Rhonda Cagle, were visiting family in the nation's capital at the end of September when they began experiencing possible virus symptoms, Sierra wrote in a September 29 post on Twitter. They both tested negative for the virus before traveling, but Cagle tested positive after she began exhibiting symptoms on September 27, Sierra said.

"Despite taking extensive precautions at all times, we somehow became infected," Sierra wrote at the time. "This goes to show that COVID-19 is highly contagious and remains a very real public health concern."

According to a post on Sierra's Facebook page Monday morning, his wife was recovering in Washington, D.C., while Sierra was receiving treatment in Baltimore.

As news spread of his hospitalization, Sierra's wife called for prayers on Twitter and several of his fellow lawmakers also posted messages expressing well wishes and concern for his health.

"Please pray for my husband," Cagle wrote. "He is a fighter and we are praying for his quick and full recovery."

"Sending love and healing thoughts to the entire Sierra family. Get well soon brother," state Rep. Daniel Hernandez Jr. of District 2 wrote.

"We're going to keep democracy warm until you get home, Zo. We love you. Heal quick," wrote state Rep. Jennifer Longdon of District 24.

Arizona Republican Governor Doug Ducey also shared the Arizona House Democrats' statement about Sierra's hospitalization on Twitter. "Arizona's prayers are with Representative Sierra and his wife, Rhonda, as they battle COVID-19. We are thinking of them and their entire family," Ducey's post said.

Sierra lives east of Phoenix in Avondale and was elected to join the Avondale City Council in 2014. He has been representing District 19 since 2019 and is currently running for re-election.

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, the state had a total of 221,070 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 5,707 deaths by Monday. Maricopa County, in which Avondale is located, represented the greatest number of COVID-19 infections in the state, with a total of 143,411 reported, and it had a 11.3 percent positive infection rate among tested individuals as of Monday morning, according to state health officials.

Newsweek reached out to Sierra's office for further comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.

This story has been updated with additional information and background.