Virginia state Sen. Bryce Reeves (R-Spotsylvania) said Tuesday he’d tested positive for COVID-19 as lawmakers meet for special session to address the fallout from the pandemic.

“After experiencing mild cold symptoms, I went and got tested yesterday for COVID-19 and tested positive,” Reeves said in a statement. “I immediately started a self-quarantine. I look forward to getting back to work and representing the constituents of the 17th District.”

Mark Snesavage, chief of staff to Reeves, said the senator was last in Richmond Thursday and wore a mask “to the best of my knowledge.” Asked if Reeves might have infected anyone else, Snesavage says the senator “is not sure.”

The state senate has been meeting in person since special session began Aug. 18, although senators held virtual committee meetings on Friday and Monday. The 40-member body is scheduled to return to in-person session Wednesday at the Science Museum of Virginia, where the desks can be widely spaced. Two senators sit inside plexiglass cases, one due to a medical vulnerability and a second who refuses to wear a mask.

Virginia Senate Clerk Susan Schaar says the chamber will keep its plan to meet in person and Reeves will not participate remotely.

“I have not been advised that anyone else will have to miss,” Schaar writes in an email to DCist/WAMU.

Jeff Ryer, press secretary for the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus, says he does not think Reeves’ positive test was cause to go remote.

“The desks are six feet apart on every side, they’re all wearing masks, they have hand sanitizer at every desk,” Ryer said. “There just isn’t anything the CDC recommends that the Senate Clerk’s office hasn’t followed.”

The 100 members of the House of Delegates are holding all their meetings remotely, although Republicans have complained the virtual meetings can dampen transparency and put rural constituents at a disadvantage due to their slow internet connection.

Reeves is not the first lawmaker to test positive for COVID-19. Del. Delores McQuinn (D-Richmond) said in April that she, her husband and daughter tested positive.

“It was a scary journey,” McQuinn told WTVR. “We were basically all here together trying to struggle through it.”

Del. Sam Rasoul (D-Roanoke) said in late July that he, too, was diagnosed with the virus.

House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) tweeted well wishes to Reeves.

“The House of Delegates wishes Senator Reeves a full recovery,” Filler-Corn wrote. “We hope that all Senators and staff are in good health and remain safe as the General Assembly handles the important business of this Special Session.”