WREG.com

Mississippi house speaker tests positive for coronavirus

Associated Press

Second from left, Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn (R-Clinton) looks on as Gov. Tate Reeves signs a bill to change the state flag. Only 5 days after this photo was taken, Gunn said he tested positive for COVID-19.

MISSISSIPPI — House Speaker Philip Gunn said he has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Gunn said in a video posted Sunday to Facebook that he got tested because he had been in close proximity to another member of the house who tested positive.


Gunn, a Republican from the Jackson suburb of Clinton, is the state’s highest-ranking political figure to publicly disclose a positive test for the virus.

In recent weeks he has been intimately involved in discussions over changing the state’s flag to get rid of the Confederate battle emblem.