The Rev Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate, and his wife have been hospitalised after testing positive for Covid-19, according to a statement.
He and his wife, 77, were being treated at Northwestern memorial hospital in Chicago, said his nonprofit Rainbow/Push Coalition. Jesse Jackson, 79, is vaccinated against the virus and received his first dose in January during a publicised event as he urged others to do so as soon as possible.
“Doctors are currently monitoring the condition of both,” said Rainbow/Push.
A protege of the Rev Martin Luther King, Jackson was key in guiding the modern civil rights movement on numerous issues, including voting rights.
Despite having Parkinson’s disease, Jackson has remained active, and has advocated for Covid-19 vaccines for black people, who lag behind white people in the United States’ vaccination drive. Earlier this month he was arrested outside the US Capitol during a demonstration calling for Congress to end the filibuster in order to support voting rights.
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