World

Three Democratic lawmakers test positive after Capitol riot

January 13, 2021 4:09 pm

Bonnie Watson Coleman is one of three Democratic lawmakers to have tested positive since the invasion of the US Capitol [Source: BBC]

Three US lawmakers have tested positive for the coronavirus after sheltering for hours with colleagues during last week’s deadly assault on the Capitol.

House Democrats Bonnie Watson Coleman, Pramila Jayapal and Brad Schneider have announced their diagnoses.

Last Wednesday they hunkered down in secure rooms, seeking refuge from an invasion of Congress in which five people died.

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Some Republicans were not wearing masks during the ordeal, footage suggests.

Video shared by Punchbowl News shows several lawmakers apparently refusing facemasks offered to them.

However, CBS pictures from inside the chamber show Ms Jayapal was herself not wearing a mask at one point.

Medical experts fear more lawmakers may have contracted the disease, potentially amounting to a super-spreader event at a time when coronavirus infections and deaths continue to rise in the US.

The US has recorded the highest number of coronavirus infections (22.6 million) and deaths (367,000) in the world, with no sign of the epidemic abating, despite the limited roll-out of vaccines.