As of Friday morning, there were at least 10 confirmed cases of Covid-19 among House representatives, House officials and Senate officials, according to the House Democratic leader’s office. KBOI reported that at least six House legislators had tested positive for Covid-19.
Democratic state legislators criticized their Republican counterparts for failing to take precautions to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 so that the legislature could continue with its work.
“We could have met remotely or used masks and reliably distanced ourselves, but no, let’s go home now and stop doing people’s business,” tweeted Democratic state senator David Nelson.
CNN contacted Bedke’s office for further comments.
Democratic House and Senate leaders in Idaho said on Friday that “they hope that our colleagues will be able to heal quickly and come back, so that we can end the session.”
“But we can’t help but be disappointed at how bad things have become at Capitol, when we could have prevented it from becoming a hot spot all the time,” said House minority leader Ilana Rubel and minority leader in the Senate Michelle Stennett joint statement.
Rubel told KBOI that lawmakers work in closed spaces and few of them wear masks, so “it seemed inevitable that this would happen”. She added that Democrats had already advocated “much more robust precautions” and even postponed the session until lawmakers could be vaccinated.
Rubel and Stennett warned on Friday that the legislature “must do better when we return, or we will continue to find ourselves in this position”.