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Three Democratic lawmakers tested positive for Covid-19 after Capitol riot

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Dialy US Times: Three US lawmakers have tested positive for the Covid-19 after sheltering for hours with colleagues during last week’s deadly assault on the US Capitol.

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

The lawmakers hunkered down in secure rooms in last Wednesday, seeking refuge from an invasion of Congress in which five people died, including a police officer.

Some Republicans were not wearing face-covering during the ordeal, footage suggests.

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

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

As three lawmakers tested positive for Covid-19, medical experts fear more lawmakers may have contracted the disease, potentially amounting to a super-spreader event at a time when Covid infections and deaths continue to rise in the US.

The US has recorded the highest number of Covid-19 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.

Over the weekend, Brian Monahan, top congressional doctor, told lawmakers and congressional staff who sheltered together from the riots to get tested.

Mr Monahan said: “The time in this room was several hours for some and briefer for others.”

“During this time, individuals may have been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection.”

Mr Monahan did not say how many lawmakers were in the chamber, but called on them to observe social-distancing measures and wear facemasks.

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