Freshman Miami congresswoman-elect to miss D.C. swearing-in ceremony due to COVID-19
South Florida Congresswoman-elect María Elvira Salazar will be unable to attend a Sunday ceremony in Washington to swear in members of the new Congress after learning she has COVID-19 during an emergency trip to the hospital, her office announced Thursday morning.
Salazar, a Republican who last month defeated Democratic U.S. Rep. Donna Shalala in perhaps the most surprising congressional upset in the country, discovered she had contracted the coronavirus after she was admitted to Doctors Hospital with a heart arrhythmia on Dec. 23, according to a press release issued Thursday.
Salazar was “admitted overnight,” treated over the course of 24 hours, and then released, according to her office. Salazar says she is quarantining at home for at least 14 days on the advice of doctors, which will force her to miss a Jan. 3 ceremony in Washington to swear in members of the 117th Congress.
“I am incredibly thankful to the tireless front-line medical workers in our community, who help so many people combating the COVID-19 pandemic,” Salazar, 59, said in a statement. “I am in quarantine at home and getting better each day. I look forward to hitting the ground running for my community, once it is medically permissible.”
Salazar’s press release did not elaborate on her
condition or explain why she waited a week to announce her diagnosis. A Salazar spokesman did not make her available for an
interview and did not respond to questions about the severity of her condition except to say that she is still experiencing symptoms “but is getting better every day.”
Salazar’s diagnosis and quarantine will delay her swearing-in as a member of the U.S. House.
According to the Congressional Research Service, members who miss the swearing-in ceremony are required to take the oath at a later date.
Other members of Miami’s new congressional delegation have contracted COVID-19, including Congressman-elect Carlos Gimenez and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart. On Tuesday, Luke Letlow, an incoming Republican congressman from Louisiana, died of complications from COVID-19.