PITTSBURGH — Rep. Mike Kelly, a Republican who represents Pennsylvania’s 16th congressional district, has tested positive for the coronavirus.
“I started feeling like I was coming down with something a week ago. I reached out to my physician, who recommended the test for COVID-19,” he told me over the phone from his home in Butler County. “As soon as I began to feel under the weather, I hunkered down at home, still worked every day, and waited for the results. The test came back positive [Friday] afternoon.”
Kelly, who has represented northwestern Pennsylvania in Congress since 2011, is a former Butler County businessman who earned a football scholarship to the University of Notre Dame, only to have his gridiron career sidelined by an injury.
Kelly, 71, said because of his age and proximity to a lot of people, his doctor at Butler Memorial Hospital said it was essential he be tested. His office had decided more than a week ago to work from home, limiting everyone’s exposure.
“I am fine, I am resting well,” he said. “I have had no fever, the worst symptom I have is that I feel very sore, with muscle aches and stuff like that. Like many people, you would usually think, ‘Well, maybe I have a 24-hour bug, and I’ll get through it.’ But I am around a lot of people, so I thought I better make sure. I don’t want to take a chance and give it to someone else. All of us have that responsibility.”
Not getting up and going to work is hard for someone like him. “You know you grow up in Western Pennsylvania, and you get used to thinking you can power through something and shake it off,” he said, laughing. “But this time I knew to take this seriously immediately. This is no time to power through anything.” Kelly said he had not seen staff or family for more than a week.
“This is interesting,” he said. “I never would have expected it.”
