Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) has tested positive for COVID-19 after sheltering during the U.S. Capitol insurrection with Republican members of Congress who refused to wear masks.
Wrote Jayapal on Twitter: “I just 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.”
“Only hours after Trump incited a deadly assault on our Capitol, many Republicans still refused to take the bare minimum COVID-19 precaution and simply wear a damn mask in a crowded room during a pandemic—creating a superspreader event ON TOP of a domestic terrorist attack,” Jayapal continued. “Any Member who refuses to wear a mask should be fully held accountable for endangering our lives because of their selfish idiocy. I’m calling for every single Member who refuses to wear a mask in the Capitol to be fined and removed from the floor by the Sergeant at Arms.”
“While I am isolating per the Capitol Physician’s instructions, I will continue to work to the best of my ability because the deep urgency of our many crises is paramount,” Jayapal added. “I share the outrage and anger of those across America who have watched Trump fail to combat this raging pandemic and refuse to take care of Americans who are suffering, dying, and devastated. I will not rest until I do everything in my power to remove this President from office.”
Jayapal is not the only House Democrat to contract COVID-19 since sheltering with Republicans. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) announced that she tested positive on Monday.
