House legislators abandoned social disengagement protocols on Sunday night when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi read the oath to officially swear in the new freshman members of the 117th Congress.
While many of the members appear to be wearing masks, the video shows hundreds of lawmakers wandering around the chamber talking to each other in close contact and shaking hands.
New York Times reporter Emily Cochrane called the scene “total chaos”, noting that some lawmakers removed their masks to speak. She added that, after the swearing-in ceremony, a “people bottleneck” rushed out, “narrowly” trying to distance themselves socially.
DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS WOMAN VOTE ON THE FLOOR 6 HOURS AFTER ANNOUNCING THE POSITIVE CORONAVIRUS TEST
Pelosi issued a tweet after the ceremony in which she said that “the most urgent priority for Congress will continue to be to defeat the coronavirus”.
However, a spokesman for Pelosi did not immediately return FOX News’ request to comment on the lack of social distance from the event.
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According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States has surpassed 20.6 million cases of coronavirus and more than 351,000 Americans have died since the pandemic began.