High court: hospitalized Justice Thomas doesn’t have COVID

WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Clarence Thomas, who remains hospitalized in Washington, does not have COVID-19, the Supreme Court said Monday.

The court provided no additional information about the infection that put Thomas in the hospital on Friday, other than to say he is responding to intravenous antibiotics.

The 73-year-old justice has been vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19, along with the other eight justices, the court has said.

The chair to his right empty, Chief Justice John Roberts took note of Thomas’ absence from the courtroom Monday without explaining why. He said the justice would take part in the cases based on written briefs and recordings of the in-court arguments.

Thomas has been on the court since 1991. Word on Sunday of his hospitalization came as the Senate Judiciary Committee prepared to begin hearings Monday in the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, whom President Joe Biden named to replace Stephen Breyer. He is retiring at the end of the session.