Thune Tests Negative For COVID-19 Posted by John Axtell Date: March 28, 2020 5 Views WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) – South Dakota U-S Senator John Thune has tested negative for COVID-19. The 59-year-old Republican returned home this week after experiencing flu-like symptoms in Washington. Spokesman Ryan Wrasse says Thune’s doctor recommended he be tested for the coronavirus on Friday, in part because Kentucky Senator Rand Paul has COVID-19. Paul kept working in the Senate the 6 days between tested and getting his results, saying the entire time he had no symptoms. South Dakota’s other senator, Republican Mike Rounds, returned home following the vote on the $2.2 trillion fiscal package and is self-isolating at his family farm. Rounds says he’s doing in largely because his wife Jean is at high risk for COVID-19 after cancer treatment last year.