Another House Member Blames Capitol Lockdown After Testing Positive For COVID

Rep. Pramila Jayapal blames her COVID diagnosis on GOP colleagues who refused to wear masks during the lockdown

One day after one Congresswoman announced her positive COVID diagnosis following the Capitol insurrection, another is revealing she, too, is positive. Rep. Pramila Jayapal says she received a positive COVID-19 test result after being locked down in a secured room during the siege, where she was forced to share space with Republican colleagues who refused to wear masks.

“I received a positive COVID-19 test result after being locked down in a secured room at the Capitol where several Republicans not only cruelly refused to wear a mask but recklessly mocked colleagues and staff who offered them one,” Rep. Jayapal said in a statement.

“Dr. Brian Monahan, the Attending Physician of the United States Congress, advised representatives and Congressional staff on Sunday that those in the secured room could have ‘been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection,'” the statement continues. “The duration in the room was multiple hours and several Republicans not only cruelly refused to wear a mask but mocked colleagues and staff who offered them one.”

Just yesterday, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman announced that she had tested positive for COVID-19 during a rapid antigen test. She, too, placed the blame on the shoulders of her irresponsible Republican colleagues who blatantly disregarded pandemic safety during the riot lockdown — with no regard for the health and safety of those sheltering along with them.

“I received a positive test 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.”

Jayapal took to Twitter to share her belief that any member of Congress who refused to wear a mask should be held accountable for endangering the welfare and lives of innocent people.

It’s particularly stunning that even in the midst of a deadly insurrection where terrorists were actively trying to kill members of Congress, Republicans refused to comply with the basic courtesy and CDC guidelines of simply putting on a face mask while isolating indoors with several other people.

Currently, more than 50 lawmakers and 220 workers in Congress have tested positive for the coronavirus or are presumed to have been infected with the coronavirus since last March.

Both Jayapal and Coleman are self-isolating but continuing to work. Coleman, who had taken the first of the required two doses of the coronavirus vaccine, says she is “experiencing mild, cold-like symptoms.”

“This is not a joke,” Jayapal said in her statement, referring to the superspreader event. “Our lives and our livelihoods are at risk, and anyone who refuses to wear a mask should be fully held accountable for endangering our lives because of their selfish idiocy.”