--- description: Rep. Ben McAdams of Utah was hospitalized on Friday with "severe shortness of breath" after testing positive for COVID-19 title: Congressman Ben McAdams Hospitalized With Coronavirus image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9cda472a09c590ce/698a0be1db29877dce2651f8/ben-mcadams-coronavirus.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Congressman Ben McAdams Hospitalized With 'Severe Shortness of Breath' From COVID-19  by [Billy Perrigo](/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Mar 23, 2020 5:09 PM CUT  Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, speaks in the Capitol on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, speaks in the Capitol on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020.Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag—© 2020 CQ-Roll Call  by [Billy Perrigo](/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Mar 23, 2020 5:09 PM CUT Rep. Ben McAdams of Utah, one of the first members of Congress to have tested positive for [coronavirus](https://time.com/5805368/will-coronavirus-go-away-world-health-organization/ "undefined"), was hospitalized on Friday with “severe shortness of breath,” he said in a [statement](https://twitter.com/RepBenMcAdams/status/1241878967327559680 "undefined") Sunday. After being diagnosed on Wednesday, McAdams told the TODAY Show that his COVID-19 felt like “the worst cold I’ve ever had.” On Friday, after his symptoms got worse, he called the coronavirus hotline and was told to go to the hospital where he was met by staff in an isolation unit. “I was admitted and have been receiving oxygen as I struggled to maintain my blood oxygen at appropriate levels,” he said in the statement. “I am now off oxygen and feeling relatively better and expect to be released as soon as the doctors determine it is appropriate.” McAdams is one of two Congressmen who have so far tested positive for COVID-19\. The other is Mario Diaz-Balart, a Republican from Florida, who also tested positive Wednesday. On Sunday, Rand Paul of Kentucky [became the first Senator to test positive for COVID-19](https://time.com/5807989/senator-rand-paul-coronavirus/ "undefined"). Several other members of the House and Senate are self-isolating after coming into contact with them. McAdams said his experience “has shown me how critical it is to follow the advice of the CDC and the Utah Department of Health in order to stop the spread of this virus.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5808196/congressman-ben-mcadams-coronavirus/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5808196/congressman-ben-mcadams-coronavirus/"},"headline":"Congressman Ben McAdams Hospitalized With 'Severe Shortness of Breath' From COVID-19","datePublished":"2020-03-23T17:09:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:30:13.396Z","description":"Rep. Ben McAdams of Utah was hospitalized on Friday with \"severe shortness of breath\" after testing positive for COVID-19","url":"https://time.com/5808196/congressman-ben-mcadams-coronavirus/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9cda472a09c590ce/698a0be1db29877dce2651f8/ben-mcadams-coronavirus.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Billy Perrigo","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9cda472a09c590ce/698a0be1db29877dce2651f8/ben-mcadams-coronavirus.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Problem Solvers Caucus","caption":"Problem Solvers Caucus","creditText":"Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag—© 2020 CQ-Roll Call","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5808196/congressman-ben-mcadams-coronavirus/","name":"Congressman Ben McAdams Hospitalized With 'Severe Shortness of Breath' From COVID-19"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Chuck Schumer Wishes Sen. Rand Paul a Speedy Recovery After Paul Tests Positive for Coronavirus","description":"Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was tested a week ago for the novel coronavirus, but continued working at the Capitol because he “felt that it was highly unlikely” he was sick since had no symptoms of the illness, he said Monday.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/5hrXTx47/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2020-03-23T18:47:04.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/5hrXTx47.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5808196/congressman-ben-mcadams-coronavirus/","duration":"PT42S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5808196/congressman-ben-mcadams-coronavirus/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```