HOUSE MEMBER TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19
She sheltered with maskless lawmakers during Capitol siege
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, a 75-year-old cancer survivor, has tested positive for the coronavirus after taking shelter in a room with other lawmakers, some of whom refused to wear masks, during last week’s violent takeover of the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.
“I received a positive test result for COVID-19, and am home resting at this time,” she said in a statement. “While I am experiencing mild, cold-like symptoms, I remain in good spirits and will continue to work on behalf of my constituents.”
Watson Coleman, D-N.J., said she believes she contracted the virus while in protected isolation during the riot. Many lawmakers were sheltered together in a committee room as the mob stormed the Capitol.
On Sunday, Brian Monahan, the attending physician to Congress and the Supreme Court, told lawmakers that the people in that room may have been exposed to someone with the virus.
“The time in this room was several hours for some and briefer for others,” Monahan said. “During this time, individuals may have been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection.”
He encouraged members who had been in the room to get tested.
Watson Coleman said she was among the many lawmakers who have received the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
In 2018, she said she was cancer-free after a spot was detected on her lungs and she had a small tumor removed.
Public health experts expect last week’s insurrection to create a swell of new coronavirus cases. The rioters at the Capitol weren’t wearing masks or social distancing, and lawmakers, aides, members of the media and other support staff found themselves huddled together in barricaded rooms.
A video published by Punchbowl News showed a group of Republicans in close conversation in a lockdown room refusing to accept masks from Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del.
President-elect Joe Biden told reporters after receiving his second dose of the vaccine that he was “appalled” by the video.
“I was appalled when I saw, in fact, it was my distinguished congresswoman from the state of Delaware. ... when they were hiding from the mob, she was going around trying to hand out masks to everybody. And her Republican colleagues wouldn’t wear a mask. I think it’s irresponsible,” Biden said.
Rep. Linda Sanchez, DLos Angeles, said the night of the riot that she had left the secure location out of fear of catching the coronavirus from her maskless GOP colleagues.
“We were removed to a secure location with other members, but it was really crowded, and there are still Republican members who refuse to wear their face masks,” she said, during an interview Wednesday on MSNBC.
“And so I decided I did not feel safe staying in those crowded conditions, and I have gone to a less safe alternate location, but one where I feel like, you know, I’m in a safer environment.”
The video showed the Republicans included Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, RGa.; Markwayne Mullin, ROkla.; Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.; Scott Perry, R-Pa.; and Michael Cloud, R-Texas, who declined the surgical masks offered by Blunt Rochester.
A maskless Mullin spoke to the rioters, many of whom also were not wearing masks, in the moments before they overtook the House chamber before lawmakers were evacuated to the lockdown area. His office did not respond to a request for comment.
It’s still unclear which member of Congress, or members, may have prompted the attending physician’s alert. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines stipulate for members who have come into close contact with an infected person for 15 minutes or more to quarantine for 10 days, or for seven days with a negative test result. People sometimes test negative before later testing positive as the infection progresses.
A false sense of security may have pervaded Capitol Hill in part because of the misuse of COVID-19 tests only meant to test symptomatic people. False negative results can occur if used in asymptomatic people.
And despite some speculation among epidemiologists that one dose of the authorized COVID-19 vaccines may offer sufficient protection against the virus, it’s clear members of Congress were not sufficiently protected by one shot.