Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Brad Schneider.Photo: Alex Edelman -Pool/Getty; Samuel Corum/Getty
Two more members of Congress announced Tuesday they have tested positive for thenovel coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total number of lawmakers to test positive since last Wednesday’s U.S. Capitol riots to three.
Reps. Pramila Jayapal, of Washington, and Brad Schneider, of Illinois, announced they had contracted the virus in separate statements. Both of the Democratic lawmakers blamed their Republican colleagues for not wearing masks while under lockdown in the U.S. Capitol building last week during the riots.
Speaking with PEOPLE on Monday afternoon, Jayapal, 55, said she had “a little fever” while waiting for her test results to come back. “We all got stuck in that room with Republicans who refuse to wear masks,” the Congresswoman said.
In apress releaseconfirming her positive result later Monday night, Jayapal said some GOP lawmakers had “cruelly” and “recklessly” refused to wear masks when offered to them during the lockdown.
“Too many Republicans have refused to take this pandemic and virus seriously, and in doing so, they endanger everyone around them,” Jayapal said. “Only hours after President [Donald] Trump incited a deadly assault on our Capitol, our country, and our democracy, many Republicans still refused to take the bare minimum COVID-19 precaution and simply wear a d— mask in a crowded room during a pandemic.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal.Doug Mills-Pool/Getty
Rep. Brad Schneider.Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call
The Punchbowl News video shows Reps. Andy Biggs, Michael Cloud, Markwayne Mullin and Scott Perry seemingly refusing offers to put on protective face masks that were being handed out.
Health officials have recommended people wear face masks in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected more than 22.6 million people across the country, according to aNew York Timestracker. At least 376,476 people have died from the COVID-19 respiratory illness.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger told PEOPLE it was “astounding” some lawmakers refused to wear masks during the lockdown.
“We are all huddled in this giant room, and people are frazzled and there’s pictures [of the riots] coming out and we still do not really actually know what’s going on,” Spanberger, a Democratic representative from Virginia, said. “Some colleagues who had been screaming about all the things that, you know, those violent rioters were screaming about, were just calmly unwilling to put on their masks.”
Tuesday’s announcement that two more representatives tested positive follows news that 75-year-old Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, of New Jersey,had also contracted the virus. Watson Coleman, a cancer survivor,blamed"a number of members within the space ignored instructions to wear masks" during last week’s lockdown.
On Sunday, Congressional physician Brian Monahanwarned lawmakersthat some may have been exposed while under lockdown last week, as pro-Trump rioters sieged on the Capitol building.
Monahan advised lawmakers to monitor for symptoms, continue social distancing and wear a mask. “Additionally, individuals should obtain an RT-PCR coronavirus test next week as a precaution,” Monahan wrote in an email to Congressmembers.
More than 100 of the nation’s lawmakers have had to quarantine due to testing positive or coming into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according toGovTrack.
Rep.-electLuke Letlow, of Louisiana, became the first elected federal official to die from COVID-19 complications last month.
As information about thecoronavirus pandemicrapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from theCDC,WHOandlocal public health departments.PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMeto raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, clickhere.
source: people.com
