WITHOUT DATE (WOOD) – Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist says he has tested positive for COVID-19, although he says he has no symptoms.

The Lieutenant Governor announced his positive test in a video posted on Twitter Sunday night.

Gilchrist said her entire family was tested after her 2-year-old daughter started showing symptoms. He said he and his family are now in quarantine and his daughter is starting to feel better.

“I will self-isolate for the appropriate amount of time and continue to maintain a virtual work schedule,” he said in the video. “I have already completed my contact tracing to help keep others safe.”

Gilchrist noted that although he and his wife are fully vaccinated and boosted, his 2-year-old is too young to receive the vaccines.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s her husband recently tested positive for the virus. The governor’s test has returned negative.

Michigan saw an upsurge in the virus in November and the number of cases has increased even faster in recent weeks as people gathered for the holidays and the highly transmissible variant of omicron became dominant in the United States.

Researchers say omicron spreads faster than other variants of the coronavirus, but it is believed to cause less severe cases, especially in those who are vaccinated.

Michigan epidemiologists say that in October, those who were not vaccinated were more than 13 times more likely to die from the virus than those who are vaccinated.

“Vaccines have been shown to lower the risk that people will get seriously ill if they come in contact with the virus,” Gilchrist reminded people. “Then get yourself vaccinated. Get your booster. Do it for you and for all of us.

He also echoed calls from health officials to wear a mask and get tested if you’ve been exposed or are showing symptoms.