At least four House Democrats have said in quick succession they tested positive for the coronavirus after a party retreat held in Philadelphia last week.
Representative Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania announced its positive result on Monday; representatives Zoe Lofgren from California and Kim Schrier from Washington announced on Sunday, and Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut on Saturday.
All four representatives said they had been vaccinated and boosted and had only mild symptoms. All four attended the House Democratic Caucus retreat in Philadelphia last week, according to one person in attendance. It was not clear and difficult to know whether they were all exposed and contaminated during the meeting or elsewhere.
Another House Democrat, Representative Gerry Connolly of Northern Virginia, who said he… tested positive for the virus on Fridaywas not present at the retreat, according to those present.
The retreat was the caucus’s first major personal event in three years. It was intended as a sort of reset for the party heading into what is expected to be a difficult midterm election season. Much of the party’s legislative agenda has been hampered by disagreements between moderates and progressives, complicated by the weakness of Democrats’ hold in the Senate.
On Wednesday, the House Democrats had to cut $15.6 billion in planned funding for President Biden’s pandemic response to secure the approval of a vital spending bill.
The House approved the measure late Wednesday night, with a total spend of $1.5 trillion. Remote voting was allowed, so it was unclear which members were physically present at the vote. Many Democrats then left for the Philadelphia retreat.
Mr Biden addressed the meeting in person on Friday. Asked at Monday’s White House press conference why he was masked when entering an event earlier in the day, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Mr. Biden sometimes does this if event guidelines require it, but that she would check. She added that the president had received a negative result from the virus test on Sunday.
A White House spokesman Kevin Munoz said none of the representatives at the retreat were considered close contacts to the president, and nothing had changed in his testing cadence.
All congressmen in attendance, as well as their associates and families, were required to submit PCR or rapid antigen tests before the event, according to protocols shared by the caucus communications director. Attendees were also required to take rapid tests in their hotel rooms on Thursday and Friday mornings, but masks were not required. The mask mandate for the Capitol House floor was revoked in late February, shortly before Biden’s State of the Union address.
New Hampshire Democrat Senator Jeanne Shaheen also said on Sunday she had tested positive.
In all, at least 100 congressmen have announced they are testing positive for the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, according to a count from Ballotpedia, an unbiased election information website.