When Trump supporters rushed into the U.S. Capitol, lawmakers were quickly transferred to a safe place. However, for some lawmakers, this asylum space may bring them another crisis – Congressional attending physician said on the 10th that lawmakers may have been exposed to people with COVID-19 at asylum.
Multiple U.S. media outlets such as the Associated Press, NPR and The New York Times reported on January 10 that Brian Monahan, the attending physician of Congress, said in a letter to lawmakers on the same day that some representatives hiding in a hearing room could Being able to reach people with COVID-19, they are now at high risk of infection.
In the email, Monaghan said that while “the time in this room is a few hours for some and shorter for others”, during this time, “everyone may have been exposed to the infected person”.
He told lawmakers they needed to test for COVID-19 on RT-PCR next week and continue to take precautions in their daily lives to prevent the spread of the virus.
On the 6th, dozens of congressmen, staff and journalists hid in a safe room after protesters broke into the Capitol, but at that time, some Republicans refused to wear masks.
According to NPR reports, a video shot inside the room showed that although Delaware Democratic Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester distributed blue medical surgical masks to six Republican congressmen, they all refused.
However, since Monaghan did not mention the specific identity of the person infected with the novel coronavirus in the letter, it is not clear whether these Republicans who did not wear masks live in the same room with the infected person.
According to the New York Times, the U.S. Congress has long tried to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus within it, but the guidance is different and the testing program has been postponed.
After the 117th Congress was held on January 3, many more members of Parliament were infected. According to NBC, more than 50 members of the U.S. Congress have tested positive for the novel coronavirus since the outbreak of the epidemic.
It is worth mentioning that later on the 6th, Kansas Republican Rep.
Jake LaTurner tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
It is not clear where Latuna was hiding when protesters tried to break into the House of Representatives, the report said.
However, in the early morning of the 7th, Latuna’s office issued a statement saying that Latuna did not show any symptoms.
