Giuliani tested positive for COVID–19 after a wave of travel seeking to persuade Republican state lawmakers to overturn the election results.

Giuliani was admitted on Sunday to Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorised to speak publicly.

The 76-year-old Giuliani is the latest in a long string of people close to the White House, including Trump himself, sickened in a pandemic that has killed more than 280,000 Americans.

“@RudyGiuliani, by far the greatest mayor in the history of NYC, and who has been working tirelessly exposing the most corrupt election (by far!) in the history of the USA, has tested positive for the China Virus,” Trump posts on Twitter on Sunday, using a term for COVID–19 that has drawn backlash.

.@RudyGiuliani, by far the greatest mayor in the history of NYC, and who has been working tirelessly exposing the most corrupt election (by far!) in the history of the USA, has tested positive for the China Virus. Get better soon Rudy, we will carry on!!!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2020

Giuliani did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

He has spearheaded Trump’s floundering legal efforts to overturn his November 3 election loss to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.

Trump and Giuliani have repeatedly claimed, contrary to evidence, that the outcome was marred by widespread fraud.

Giuliani visited Georgia on Thursday, where he urged state lawmakers to stop certification of Biden’s win after making similar pleas in Michigan on Wednesday and Arizona on Monday.

Trump and many of his close associates have baulked at advice to wear masks and avoid crowds to stem transmission of the illness, which has roared to record levels in the United States.

-Reuters