(Graeme Jennings-Pool/Getty Images)
By Brian Brant
(SEATTLE) Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal said she tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, following being locked down in a secured room during the Capitol Hill riot on Jan. 6.
In a statement confirming her diagnosis, Jayapal blamed many Republican lawmakers' insistence on not wearing a mask.
“Too many Republicans have refused to take this pandemic and virus seriously, and in doing so, they endanger everyone around them," Jayapal said. "Only hours after President Trump incited a deadly assault on our Capitol, our country, and our democracy, many Republicans still refused to take the bare minimum COVID-19 precaution and simply wear a damn mask in a crowded room during a pandemic — creating a superspreader event on top of a domestic terrorist attack."
The representative is also calling for maskless lawmakers in the Capitol to be penalized.
“I am also calling for serious fines to be immediately levied on every single Member who refuses to wear a mask in the Capitol,” she said.“Additionally, any Member who refuses to wear a mask should be immediately removed from the floor by the Sergeant at Arms."
Jayapal becomes the second member of Congress to test positive following the lockdown after New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman announced her positive diagnosis on Monday.
Dr. Brian Monahan, the attending physician of the United States Congress, warned representatives and Congressional staff on Sunday that those in the secured room could have “been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection.”
Jayapal quarantined immediately after the riot and is isolating following the Capitol Physician’s instructions.
She also said she will continue working, including to remove President Donald Trump from office.
"Now, we have also watched [Trump] openly fuel and incite these insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol and our democracy on January 6—so I will not rest until I do everything in my power to remove this President from office," Jayapal said.