Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said her husband is continuing to receive oxygen at a hospital after she revealed Monday that he has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
The former 2020 presidential candidate opened up about husband John Bessler’s condition on “Good Morning America” on Tuesday and described the pain of not being able to be physically by his side. It’s a struggle that she expects most people are going to experience at some point with a friend or loved one as hospitals isolate patients to prevent the virus from spreading.
“A lot of Americans have this and worse going on, and one of the hardest things about the disease is you can’t visit your loved one,” she said. “I would, as much as I love being on your show, I would rather be there with him right now, and I can’t do that.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar said her husband, John Bessler, remains hospitalized after contracting the coronavirus.
Klobuchar said her husband, age 52, had been healthy with no preexisting conditions when he came down with what first felt like a common cold that grew into pneumonia and coughing up blood. He has since been given oxygen to help with what she described as “dangerously low” oxygen levels.
At the start of the illness, she said he self-quarantined in their Washington, D.C., apartment and was tested for the virus while she was in Minnesota. When she returned to the capital, they stayed in separate places.
The senator said it’s been at least two weeks since she’s had physical contact with him, and since she has not shown any symptoms of the virus she has not taken a test for it.
The senator is seen with her husband and daughter, Abigail Bessler, after she announced her 2020 presidential bid in Minneapolis.
For now, she said she and her daughter communicate electronically with him and his medical staff, whom she noted are people “I’ve never even met.”
“This isn’t just my story. Everyone’s going to know someone in their family where this happens, or their friends,” she said.
Despite her own family’s concerns, she said she’s devoted to working to get a congressional bill passed this week that will help other Americans who are out of work due to the virus and those in need of medical care.
“Everyone here has been working around the clock to get the bill done,” she said. “I am actually optimistic that we will have an agreement.”
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