Hayes, sick with COVID-19, calls for Capitol Hill testing
WASHINGTON — After receiving a positive coronavirus diagnosis Sunday, U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5, said she is feeling “extremely winded,” with a scratchy throat, cough and labored breathing on Monday.
“In the space of 48 hours, I went from just being uncomfortable with what I thought were seasonal allergies to being clearly winded and spiking a fever and taking Tylenol,” she said. “It’s scary.”
Hayes said she will now advocate for regular coronavirus testing for members on Capitol Hill, after she contracted the virus at the close of a busy week of voting in the House chamber. A staffer member with whom Hayes had contact tested positive on Saturday, prompting Hayes to get tested on Sunday and receive her positive result.
“I just think it’s irresponsible for us not to get regularly tested or have our temperatures taken,” she said. “They’re cleaning the floor between votes, but we did everything — we wore masks, we socially distanced, we didn’t let visitors in the office. I did almost no public events or press conferences.”
She said she had “no idea” if she could have caught the virus from another House member or could have transmitted it to them, but she wore a mask and practiced social distancing.
“We tried to go through every scenario,” she said. “I did talk to the House physician and they tried to figure out through contact tracing. With so many members, I can’t imagine how...”
Hayes is quarantining for 14 days, but will continue to work remotely, participating in votes by proxy, attending hearings virtually and organizing the introduction of two of her bills, as her health permits, she said. Over the weekend, she and her staffers struggled to obtain testing, both in Connecticut and the Washington, D.C. area, she said.
“The testing is very limited on the weekend,” she said, describing how it took multiple visits and long waits in lines at testing sites. “Three of my staffers had to pay out of pocket $75 because the sites that they found that had openings were not the free sites and they didn’t take their insurance.”
Hayes spoke with Gov. Ned Lamont and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, DConn., and relayed their experiences, she said. She asked Lamont to improve advertising of the United Way 211 website that lists every test location in Connecticut and add additional information to the site so individuals will know if testing is free or what health insurances are accepted, she said.
“The governor affirmed his commitment to make sure Connecticut residents have the best information available when it comes to testing availability and testing access. Connecticut remains one of the best tested states in the country,” said Max Reiss, spokesman for the governor. “Connecticut’s robust testing infrastructure and access across almost 180 sites are among many reasons why Connecticut’s COVID-19 response is among the best in the country.”
Hayes is drafting an email to House leaders, like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Monday, asking for testing of members regularly, she said.
“We’ve had this conversation several times over the last few months and there was a concern that we didn’t want, while communities were struggling to get testing, people felt uneasy about members of the House getting access to testing. But my response is everybody should be tested,” she said. “We are congregating in these settings with people from all over the country.”
As of mid-day Monday, only one staff member from Hayes’s Connecticut and D.C. offices had tested positive for the virus, but several were still awaiting test results. Hayes is also waiting for a test result for her son Myles.
Her husband, Milford Hayes, a Waterbury police detective, tested negative for the virus on Sunday. He contracted coronavirus in April but was asymptomatic. Hayes also quarantined for 14 days at that time.
She said the experience has made her reflect on how federal coronavirus legislation provides for families like hers that have members who get the virus at different times and need care.