Arizona State Representative In ICU With Coronavirus

PHOENIX, AZ — Arizona State Rep. Lorenzo Sierra has been hospitalized near Washington, D.C., with coronavirus complications, the Arizona House Democrats announced Monday.

Sierra, a Democrat who lives in Avondale and represents District 19 in the Arizona State House of Representatives, was initially admitted to a Washington hospital Sunday night but was transferred to The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on Monday morning, according to the news release. He has been intubated and is resting in the intensive care unit.

The House legislative session reconvened May 18 after the coronavirus forced it to end March 16, but it adjourned May 21.

Sierra and his wife, Rhonda Cagle, had been visiting with family over the last week when they both began exhibiting symptoms of the coronavirus, despite testing negative prior to traveling to the East Coast. Cagle is recovering with her family in Washington.

"Despite taking extensive precautions at all times, they somehow became infected," the House Democrats wrote. "They wish to remind everyone that COVID-19 is highly contagious and remains a very real health concern."

Cagle and Sierra will remain on the East Coast while he receives treatment.