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Indiana state rep. returns to Statehouse after COVID-19 hospitalization

Vanessa_Summers
Posted at 1:38 PM, Feb 03, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-03 13:38:46-05

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana House of Representatives member Vanessa Summers returned to the Statehouse this week after recovering from a COVID-19 hospitalization.

Summers said she was diagnosed with COVID-19 in December 2020 and began the 2021 session in the hospital.

"I was hospitalized for 18 days, with 11 of those days spent in the ICU, being treated for hypoxia. I was literally unable to breathe and get enough oxygen to my body to function,” Summers said. “I was put on 90 percent oxygen.”

She said she wasn’t released from the hospital until she was down to 4% oxygen. The Democratic member from Indianapolis urged Hoosier to take the virus seriously.

“Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Practice social distancing. Exercise. Work on your health daily, don't just wait until you get sick,” she said.

Summers has served in the House since 1991.