Knoxville’s NBC News affiliate reports:
Family and friends of Tennessee State Representative David Byrd are asking for prayers after he was placed on a ventilator Monday in his fight against COVID-19.
The 63-year-old was taken to the hospital more than a week ago with COVID-19 pneumonia.
On Monday morning before being placed on a ventilator, he continued to ask for a miracle, saying his oxygen levels had continued to dip and he was unable to get them back up.
Byrd has appeared on the House floor without a mask and attended a mask-less GOP caucus last month. He has also signed onto a GOP resolution declaring that that pandemic has been “sensationalized” for political purposes.