Experiencing a "light fever" and "congestion," former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y., was hospitalized over the weekend with COVID-19, the New York Post reported.
"I'm weak, but I feel good," D'Amato, 83, told the Post on the phone from St. Francis Hospital.
Sen. D'Amato was a powerhouse in the GOP Senate and still runs an influential lobbying firm Park Strategies.
Notably, D'Amato told the Post he has been taking all the necessary precautions, so his contracting the disease was surprising, particularly since he has been working from home on Lido Beach, where he lives alone.
"I wear a mask all the time," he told the Post. "I walk all the time. I don't know."
D'Amato once was influential in helping former New York GOP Gov. George Pataki overtaking three-term Democrat Gov. Mario Cuomo, the father of current Gov. Andrew Cuomo.