3rd House Democrat tests positive after sheltering with unmasked Republicans
Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., said he tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, becoming the third Democrat to do so after sheltering at the Capitol with several Republicans who were unmasked for "several hours” during Wednesday’s siege.
After “narrowly escaping” the violence, Schneider said in a statement, “I was forced to spend several hours in a secure but confined location with dozens of other Members of Congress. Several Republican lawmakers in the room adamantly refused to wear a mask.”
“I am now in strict isolation, worried that I have risked my wife’s health and angry at the selfishness and arrogance of the anti-maskers who put their own contempt and disregard for decency ahead of the health and safety of their colleagues and our staff,” he continued.
Schneider said he hasn't had any symptoms and that he drove home from Washington, D.C., to Illinois.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, both Democrats, have also said they tested positive following the Capitol siege.
Schneider is joining the growing number of Democrats demanding that the House sanction members who don’t wear masks on the House floor.
At a virtual press conference Tuesday, Schneider said, "I don’t know from whom I got this virus or even necessarily if I got it in that room. But I know that my exposure in that room was greater than at any other time through this entire pandemic.”
ABC News’ Ben Siegel and Matthew Vann contributed to this report.