ST. PAUL, Minn. — Republican Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said Sunday he has tested positive for the coronavirus.

The East Gull Lake lawmaker said in a statement that he has been in quarantine since experiencing symptoms on Monday and is following the advice of his doctor.

"I am not experiencing major issues or symptoms and I expect like 99% of people, I will make a full recovery," Gazelka said. "We have learned a lot about this virus and how to treat it, we must remain cautiously optimistic that we will find a way to live with it."

Gazelka's statement said the "blaming and shaming of a positive covid diagnosis has got to stop" and some are using a "covid diagnosis as a political tool to blame just Republicans when community spread is uncontrolled is indicative of failed leadership looking for a scapegoat."

State health officials on Sunday confirmed 7,559 positive tests and 31 deaths due to complications from COVID-19 in the last day. There have been 223,581 virus cases and 2,905 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

There were 1,204 new virus cases per 100,000 people in Minnesota over the past two weeks, which ranks eighth in the country for new cases per capita, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers. One in every 137 people in Minnesota tested positive in the past week.