NH Governor Sununu Hospitalized With Flu-Like Symptoms, Following Negative COVID Tests

After he tested negative for COVID-19 earlier this week, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu was admitted to a hospital for more testing on Friday, his office said.

In a statement on Friday, Sununu's chief of staff, Jayne Millerick, said the Republican governor "has been admitted to Portsmouth Hospital this afternoon for additional testing."

"He is in good spirits and confident in his care. More information will be shared as it becomes available," she said.

Sununu's trip to the hospital comes two days after he says he woke up "with symptoms similar to COVID-19," and tested negative for the virus three times.

The governor said on Twitter Wednesday that "out of an abundance of caution" he took two rapid antigen tests and a PCR test, all of which came back negative.

"I am going to rest up and look forward to getting back to the State House soon!" Sununu said at the time.

In an initial statement Friday morning, shared on Twitter by WMUR journalist Mike Cronin Jr., Millerick said that Sununu was being evaluated at the hospital as a "precautionary measure to determine the cause of the flu-like symptoms he has been experiencing this week."

Sununu, who has urged New Hampshire residents to get vaccinated, is fully vaccinated, and received the Johnson & Johnson shot earlier this year, according to WMUR.

A statement sent to Newsweek regarding Sununu's trip to the hospital Friday said that further updates will be provided.

On Monday, Sununu was in Kentucky on a visit to see how officials there are handling a recent surge in COVID-19 cases.

"We don't have the numbers that Kentucky has now, and maybe we don't get there," Sununu during the trip, according to WMUR.

"Hopefully we don't, but my job as governor is to make sure that we're as prepared as we possibly can be, and talking to folks on the ground about what they're doing to kind of hedge really what is an overrun of the hospital system."

In July, Sununu signed a "medical freedom" bill that bans requirements for residents to receive a COVID-19 vaccine to access public facilities or services.

In recent weeks, several high-profile politicians have contracted COVID-19. In August, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tested positive for the virus. On August 19, three senators tested positive on the same day, bringing the total number of cases in Congress to more than 70.

This story was updated with additional information and a statement from Sununu's office.