NY Sen. Seward, a cancer patient, has coronavirus
State Sen. James Seward and his wife, Cindy, have tested positive for the coronavirus, the senator’s office said Monday.
Both Seward, 68, who also is battling bladder cancer, and his wife have mild cases of the virus, his office said.
Seward, R-Milford, is being treated at Albany Medical Center but is to be “released from the hospital shortly and will remain under quarantine at home,” his office said in an email to the news media.
Cindy Seward already is under home quarantine, the senator’s office said.
Senate Minority Leader James Flanagan, a Long Island Republican, issued a statement Monday that said he “is praying for their speedy recovery and asks that everyone do the same.”
Flanagan said Seward has not been in Albany since March 11.
Seward announced in November 2019 that the bladder cancer he first fought in 2016 had returned. In January 2020, he announced he will not seek an 18th two-year term in November and will retire from the Senate at the end of this year.
Seward represents New York’s 51st Senate District, which stretches from Ulster County west to Tompkins County and north to Herkimer County. In Ulster County, the district includes the towns of Rochester, Olive, Shandaken and Hardenburgh.
State Assemblyman Brian Miller also has tested positive for the coronavirus and is hospitalized, his office said Friday.
Miller — a Republican whose 101st Assembly District includes the Ulster County town of Denning, Hardenburgh, Shawangunk and Wawarsing — is being treated at a hospital in Utica, near his home in New Hartford.
Miller last was in Albany on March 19, according to Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay, RSyracuse.
A total of five New York state lawmakers have tested positive for the coronavirus.
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