Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Congress’s attending physician warned House members on Sunday that they may have been exposed to the coronavirus last week, after evacuating from the House chamber when pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed the US Capitol.
In an email, attending physician Brian Monahan wrote that, after evacuating to “a large committee hearing space,” members “may have been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection.” NEW the attending physician has sent out an email saying that people in the safe room during the riots may have been exposed to the coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/iqxYHG32ye Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 10, 2021
US President Donald Trump has downplayed the pandemic almost since its beginning, and many of his supporters who entered the Capitol on Wednesday did not appear to be wearing masks or making any effort at social distancing.
A riot amid a pandemic: Did the coronavirus, too, storm the Capitol? wionews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wionews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A Riot Amid a Pandemic: Did the Virus, Too, Storm the Capitol?
Some scientists fear that the mayhem on Capitol Hill may prove to have been a so-called super-spreading event.
The rally on the National Mall before a mob entered the Capitol on Wednesday.Credit.Pete Marovich for The New York Times
Jan. 7, 2021
The mob that stormed the Capitol on Wednesday did not just threaten the heart of American democracy. To scientists who watched dismayed as the scenes unfolded on television, the throngs of unmasked intruders who wandered through hallways and into private offices may also have transformed the riot into a super-spreader event.