Democratic congresswoman votes on House floor 6 days after announcing positive coronavirus test
Rep. Gwen Moore announced on Dec. 28 that she tested positive for coronavirus
Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., returned to the House floor on Sunday to vote for Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as speaker, despite announcing six days ago that she tested positive for coronavirus.
Moore announced on Dec. 28 that she had tested positive for coronavirus, though she did not specify which day she tested positive. She told reporters on Capitol Hill Sunday that she did not gotten a negative COVID-19 test, arguing she didn't need to because she quarantined for two weeks.
She said Dr. Brian Moynihan, U.S. Capitol attending physician, said she was cleared to return to Capitol Hill.
My quarantine is over and I am medically cleared to travel and work on behalf of Wisconsin's Fourth Congressional District."
Meanwhile, three other members of Congress were be allowed to vote on Sunday via "special arrangements" because they are still in their quarantine windows despite testing negative for the virus, Politico's Heather Caygle and Melanie Zanona reported.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has detailed two acceptable quarantine periods, although it noted that the previously established 14-day quarantine is the best way to reduce the risk of virus spread. Officials said quarantine can now end after 10 days without a COVID-19 test if the person reports no symptoms, or after seven days with a negative test result if the person reports no symptoms.
The three members, two Democrats and one Republican, had a special entrance closed off to the public and will be enclosed by Plexiglas in the gallery, they reported.
"Upon the direction of the Office of the Attending Physician and the House Sergeant at Arms, a secure enclosure has been erected in Gallery 4 of the House Chamber to allow members who are in quarantine status to fulfill their Constitutional duties," Dr. Brian Monahan, Attending Physician of the U.S. Congress, said in a statement, according to CNN.
Republicans were critical of Moore's decision to report for duty in-person.
"The coronavirus won’t stop Nancy Pelosi’s quest for power," the Republican National Committee's rapid response director Steve Guest wrote on Twitter.
Moore had said she did not expect her coronavirus diagnosis to affect her "work for Wisconsin's Fourth" when announcing she had tested positive.
"I tested positive for COVID-19," Moore wrote on Twitter on Dec. 28. "I am following guidance from my doctor and am isolating from others. I am thankful to be feeling well. And I do not foresee this disrupting my work for Wisconsin’s Fourth."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rep-gwen-moore-house-speaker-vote-positive-coronavirus-test