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Now
that Congress has passed a $2.2 trillion economic relief bill
and President Donald Trump has signed it into law, neither the
House of Representatives nor Senate is due back in Washington
until April 20 at the earliest.
An estimated 230 House members returned to Washington to pass
the relief package on Friday, despite the health risks of
traveling and gathering at the Capitol, after Republican
Representative Thomas Massie said he would block an effort to
pass the bill without at least half of the House's 430 current
members present.
Here is a look at some of the lawmakers affected by the virus:
WHO HAS THE VIRUS?
Representative Nydia Velazquez
Velazquez, a Democrat from New York, announced in a statement on
Monday that she had been diagnosed with a presumed case of
coronavirus, although she had not been tested, after developing
symptoms of the ailment on Sunday.
Velazquez was among the House members who returned to the
Capitol on Friday, and she attended a ceremony where House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi signed the coronavirus response
legislation.
Pelosi consulted with the lawmakers' attending physician, but he
found her contact with Velazquez to have been "low risk" and
recommended she take no particular action, Pelosi's spokesman
Drew Hammill said Monday.
Representative Mike Kelly
Kelly, a Republican from Pennsylvania, said on Friday he had
tested positive for the coronavirus at a drive-through testing
site.
Kelly said in a statement he had started experiencing mild
flu-like symptoms, and his doctor ordered the coronavirus test.
Representative Joe Cunningham
Cunningham, a Democrat from South Carolina, said on Friday he
had tested positive for the coronavirus, although his symptoms
had already begun to improve.
Cunningham had been in self-quarantine since March 19 after
learning he had been in contact with another member of Congress
who had tested positive.
Senator Rand Paul
The Kentucky Republican said on March 22 that he had tested
positive and was in quarantine. He said he was asymptomatic and
feeling fine and was tested out of an abundance of caution. He
had been in the Senate and using the gym there in the days
before he received his positive result. [nL1N2BF09W]
Representative Mario Diaz-Balart
The Florida Republican said on March 18 that he tested positive
after developing symptoms on March 14. That was less than 24
hours after he and more than 400 other members of the House of
Representatives crowded into the chamber to pass an earlier
coronavirus aid package. [nL1N2BB3A2]
Representative Ben McAdams
The Utah Democrat said on March 18 that he had the virus, also
having developed symptoms on March 14. In a statement March 24,
McAdams said he had been in the hospital and doctors were
monitoring his occasional need for oxygen.
He has since been released from the hospital.
WHO IS SELF-QUARANTINED?
At least six of the 100 senators have self-quarantined because
of exposure to Paul or others who tested positive for the
coronavirus. They are Republicans Cory Gardner, Lindsey Graham,
Rick Scott and Ted Cruz. All have returned to public life.
More than two dozen House members have self-quarantined, some
after exposure to Diaz-Balart or McAdams, and others after
contacts with constituents or staffers who tested positive. Not
all are still in isolation.
The Senate's No. 2 Republican, John Thune, missed the March 25
Senate vote on the $2.2 trillion coronavirus bill after feeling
ill and flying home to South Dakota. He later announced that a
coronavirus test had come back negative.
(Reporting by Susan Cornwell, Patricia Zengerle and Jan Wolfe;
Editing by Scott Malone, Jonathan Oatis, Nick Zieminski and
Leslie Adler)
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