WASHINGTON — No less than 9 Home Democrats have introduced within the final 5 days that they examined constructive for the coronavirus, with greater than half of these circumstances rising after lawmakers attended a celebration retreat final week in Philadelphia.
It’s unclear what drove the wave of circumstances or the place the representatives had been contaminated. However members of the Home spent hours on the ground with out masks for votes that stretched late into the evening final Wednesday earlier than Democrats boarded buses to journey to their gathering.
The infections supplied a jarring reminder that, at the same time as high officers search to pivot away from strict restrictions and encourage People to study to reside with the coronavirus, the pandemic rages on. The White Home introduced on Tuesday that Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, had examined constructive for the virus.
The uptick was all of the extra hanging on condition that Democrats, together with members of Congress and President Biden’s crew, have typically been way more supportive of strict precautions in opposition to the virus, whereas Republicans have been vocal opponents of masks mandates and different measures, arguing that they’re extreme and an encroachment on private freedom.
Nonetheless, at the same time as studies of the infections circulated in Washington and circumstances continued to spike globally, there was little indication that officers on the White Home or in Congress would reimpose a sequence of precautions that they’ve simply begun to roll again. It displays choices throughout the nation, the place leaders are dropping pandemic-era restrictions and mandates.
The White Home introduced on Tuesday that public excursions would resume in April, after being suspended firstly of the pandemic. On the different finish of Pennsylvania Avenue, senior lawmakers and officers on Capitol Hill are discussing plans to reopen the constructing to vacationers, in line with aides briefed on the discussions, after Home Democrats moved this month to raise a masks mandate of their chamber.
Totally vaccinated lawmakers won’t be required to put on a masks on Wednesday, as members of the Home and the Senate collect in a joint session for a digital deal with by President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. (Unvaccinated lawmakers should put on a masks, although it’s unclear how rigorously that can be enforced.)
Representatives Jared Golden of Maine, Joe Neguse of Colorado and Andy Kim of New Jersey introduced inside about an hour of each other on Tuesday morning that that they had examined constructive for the coronavirus. Mr. Neguse attended the retreat together with 4 others who reported testing constructive in latest days: Representatives Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, Zoe Lofgren of California, Kim Schrier of Washington and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut.
Two different Home Democrats, Representatives Gerald E. Connolly of Virginia and Peter Welch of Vermont, additionally stated they examined constructive on Friday and Monday, respectively. They weren’t current on the retreat, in line with an individual in attendance who spoke on the situation of anonymity to debate attendance on the non-public gathering.
Representatives, their workers members and their households had been required to take P.C.R. or fast antigen checks earlier than the occasion, and attendees had been required to take fast checks of their resort rooms on Thursday and Friday.
Mr. Biden delivered an in-person speech on the retreat on Friday. The White Home press secretary, Jen Psaki, stated on Tuesday that as a result of all representatives on the retreat had been vaccinated, a change within the president’s habits wouldn’t be warranted in line with C.D.C. pointers. She reiterated that Mr. Biden obtained a unfavorable check outcome on Sunday.
Many members of the Home had been additionally collectively on the ground late Wednesday evening to cross a significant spending invoice earlier than they departed for Philadelphia, although it’s unclear which members had been bodily current as a result of distant voting was allowed. Many of the Democrats who examined constructive emphasised that they had been vaccinated, and stated it was a reminder that the pandemic was not but over.
“I caught COVID on 2yr anniversary of pandemic,” Mr. Kim wrote on Twitter. “Sure I really feel depressing. Awoke in center of evening with fever, however I’m not scared like I’d have been yr or 2 in the past. That doesn’t imply I’m not frightened.”
The outbreak amongst Home Democrats comes amid rising issues a few surge in coronavirus circumstances in components of Europe and Asia, in addition to warnings from public well being consultants that america may see a summer time or fall surge.
The Democrats had been joined on Tuesday by a Republican colleague, Consultant Fred Upton of Michigan, who stated on Twitter that he was experiencing gentle signs after a “routine check” got here again constructive.
Annie Karni contributed reporting.
