GOP Rep. Clay Higgins said he caught COVID-19 for the second time, claiming it is a Chinese 'biological attack weaponized virus'

  • Rep. Clay Higgins said Sunday he and his wife had contracted COVID-19 for the second time.

  • He also called it a Chinese "biological attack weaponized virus."

  • It is not known when Higgins tested positive or whether he has been vaccinated.

  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

GOP Rep. Clay Higgins said Sunday that he and his wife had contracted COVID-19 for the second time, but called it a a Chinese "biological attack weaponized virus."

"I have COVID, Becca has COVID, my son has COVID," Higgins, who represents Louisiana's 3rd congressional district, said in a Facebook post.

"Becca and I had COVID before, early on, in January 2020, before the world really knew what it was."

"This episode is far more challenging," he added. "It has required all of my devoted energy."

Higgins went on to say that his family were in relatively good health and "under excellent care."

Higgins has not said publicly if he has been vaccinated but he has encouraged his constituents to get the shot.

He also called the virus a "CCP biological attack weaponized virus," referring to the Chinese Communist Party.

In June 2020, Higgins claimed that COVID-19 "was created in a laboratory" and he has often referred to the novel coronavirus as the "Chinese virus." Other proponents of the theory include GOP Sen. Tom Cotton.

When asked by reporters last June for evidence to support that claim, Higgins had declined, saying instead that they should Google it.

US intelligence agencies are currently investigating whether the novel coronavirus could have escaped from a medical facility in Wuhan, per a directive from President Joe Biden. They were given 90 days from the end of May to produce a report, meaning one can be expected by late August.

While some US officials have reportedly considered the theory to be plausible, there is no evidence to suggest the virus was created as a biological weapon.

In an interview with The New York Times last month, Dr. Shi Zhengli, a top scientist at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, denied the theory.

"My lab has never conducted or cooperated in conducting gain-of-function experiments that enhance the virulence of viruses," she told The Times.

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