Ron Johnson latest Republican to announce positive COVID-19 test

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson's office on Saturday announced that the Republican senator had tested positive for COVID-19, one of multiple high-ranking Republicans over the last 48 hours to have announced a positive test result for the disease. 

Among Republican senators, Johnson follows Mike Lee and Thom Tillis in announcing an infection from the virus. President Trump announced early Friday that he and First Lady Melania Trump had contracted the disease. Trump is currently recovering at Walter Reed Medical Center. 

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Saturday announced that he, too, had tested positive for COVID-19. 

Media speculation over Friday and Saturday suggested that the Sept. 26 Rose Garden ceremony announcing the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett might have been a "superspreader" event at which many attendees may have been infected. 

Johnson's infection and subsequent quarantine could pose trouble for Senate Republicans hoping to confirm Barrett to the Court ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Sen. Lindsey Graham on Saturday said he still intended to hold Barrett's hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee starting Oct. 12.