State Rep. Travis Clardy tests positive for COVID-19, is quarantining in district

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State Rep. Travis Clardy, R-Nacogdoches, has tested positive for the coronavirus and is quarantining back home in his district, his office confirmed Thursday.

Clardy, who has been fully vaccinated since earlier this year, tested positive last Friday, as first reported by Quorum Report.

The news comes as the Texas Legislature wraps up a special session, a 30-day overtime that is set to end Friday.

Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to call a second special session in the coming days after House Democrats left the state to prevent the passage of a GOP elections bill. That quorum break has prevented state lawmakers still in Austin from conducting official business included on Abbott's agenda for the special session.

In recent weeks, the state's positivity rate for the virus has increased to levels not seen since January — an indication that the highly transmissible delta variant of COVID-19 is spreading rampantly and mostly among unvaccinated people. A "small percentage" of people though who have been vaccinated can still contract COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, vaccines are still effective at reducing the severity of the virus.

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