US death toll hits 150,000; Rep. Gohmert tests positive
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The death toll from the coronavirus in the U.S. hit 150,000 on Wednesday, by far the highest in the world, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.
Brazil was second with over 88,000 deaths, followed by Britain at about 46,000.
The bleak milestone comes as the pandemic’s reach into political leadership of the United States was demonstrated again Wednesday as Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, tested positive f or t he coronavirus, forcing him to cancel his plan to travel to his home state with President Donald Trump.
The Texas Republican faced criticism from colleagues for shunning masks on Capitol Hill, where face coverings are not mandatory and testing is sparse.
“A selfish act,” one lawmaker said.
Hours after Gohmert’s positive test, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on the House floor Wednesday evening that all members will be required to wear a mask and one will be provided if they forget.
She said failure to wear a mask is a “serious breach of decorum” and members could be removed from the chamber if they aren't wearing one. Lawmakers will be able to temporarily remove the masks while speaking, however.
Gohmert, one of the House’s most conservative and outspoken members, told a Texas news station that he tested positive at the White House and planned to self-quarantine. Gohmert, 66, is at least the 10th member of Congress known to have tested positive for the coronavirus.
An eight-term lawmaker, Gohmert participated in the House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday where Attorney General William Barr testified.
Before the hearing, Gohmert was seen approaching the meeting room a few feet behind Barr, and neither man was wearing a mask.
The chairman of that committee, Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, said: “I’m self-quarantining until I take a test and then again until results are in. In the meantime, my work schedule and the lives of my employees are disrupted. This stems from a selfish act by Mr. Gohmert, who is just one member of Congress.”
When Gohmert flew to Washington from Texas on Sunday, he sat next to Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, who went into quarantine after learning of her colleague’s test results.
In a television interview, Gohmert said he was given a rapid test by the White House that came back positive, and then took a more thorough test to rule out a false positive. That test came back positive as well, so “apparently I have it,” Gohmert told KLTV’s East Texas Now.
Gohmert has questioned mask use for months.
Meanwhile, Trump defended his decision to promote Dr. Stella Immanuel, who pushed hydroxychloroquine as a cure for the coronavirus in a video the president retweeted.
“I was very impressed with her and other doctors that stood with her,” Trump said Wednesday before leaving the White House for Texas.
Trump lashed out at social media companies for labeling her comments misinformation and removing the video that featured her.
“I was very impressed by her,” Trump said. “I know nothing about her, I had never seen her before, but certainly you could put her up and let her have a voice. So what they did is they took down their voice. Now, they seem to never take down the other side. They only take down conservative voices.
“And with hydroxy, all I want to do is save lives,” Trump added.
Many of the claims in Immanuel’s video are widely disputed by medical experts.
She has made even more bizarre pronouncements in the past, saying that cysts, fibroids and some other conditions can be caused by having sex with demons, that McDonald’s and Pokemon promote witchcraft, that alien DNA is used in medical treatments, and that half-human “reptilians” work in the government.