New Jersey Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman tested positive for COVID-19 – and she believes she was infected while isolating herself during Capitol riots with other lawmakers who refused to wear masks.
Watson Coleman, 75, is a recent cancer survivor and received the first dose of the two-dose COVID vaccine offered to members of Congress. She said in a statement that she is “experiencing mild cold symptoms” and is working from home.
Watson Coleman did not say why he thinks she was infected in the committee’s large audience room where members of the House took shelter while rebels invaded the Capitol last Wednesday.
But the Chamber’s assistant physician had already warned members that “the individuals may have been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection.” All members who were in that room were encouraged to do quick COVID-19 tests.
After the rebellion, a video appeared showing some Republican members, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who did not wear masks, even after requests from third parties to put them on.
Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) was shown trying to distribute masks in a video obtained by Punchbowl News. “Although I was disappointed with my colleagues who refused to wear a mask, I was encouraged by those who did. My goal, in the midst of what I feared was a super-spreading event, was to make the room at least a little safer, ”she tweeted later.
Public health officials have warned that the riot as a whole has the ingredients of a super-disseminating event, with hordes of unmasked demonstrators crowded inside, screaming – and then returning to their hometowns, where they could spread the virus even more.
Other members of Congress continue to contract the coronavirus in several ways. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) announced on Sunday that his test was positive after his roommate, Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), tested positive on January 6, before the disturbances.
Dozens of members of Congress received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, but medical experts say it does not provide instant immunity and is not considered to be fully effective until the second dose is administered weeks later.