Health Status Undisclosed Hours After Rev. Jesse Jackson, Wife Were Hospitalised For COVID-19

Jesse Jackson and his wife

Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., the civil rights leader and Chicago resident and his wife, Jacqueline, have been hospitalised after contracting COVID-19, according to the prominent political activist's organisation, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

In a statement, the organisation said the reverend, who is 79 years old, and Jacqueline Jackson, 77, were admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Their conditions haven't been released.

Anyone who has been around either person in the last five to six days is advised to quarantine in line with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations, according to Rainbow PUSH.

A protégé of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jackson was key in guiding the modern civil rights movement on numerous issues, including voting rights.

Jackson has remained active, most recently advocating for COVID-19 vaccines for Black people, who lag behind white people in the United States’ vaccination drive, NBC reports.

Jackson got his first dose of the vaccine in January during a publicised event at a South Side hospital. He urged others to vaccinate as soon as possible.

In January, the civil rights leader was admitted to Northwestern for "abdominal discomfort" and underwent gallbladder surgery. Jackson spent three weeks at a rehabilitation centre for a “short period of exercise and therapy,” because of his Parkinson’s disease, according to Rainbow PUSH.

Jackson has been seeking outpatient care for more than five years for Parkinson’s, a chronic neurological disorder that causes movement difficulties.