NJ Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman Tests COVID-19 Positive After Sheltering With Several Lawmakers Who Refused To Wear Masks During US Capitol Riots
EWING, N.J. (CBS/CNN) -- A 75-year-old congresswoman from New Jersey has tested positive for the coronavirus following last week's U.S. Capitol lockdown. Democratic Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman revealed Monday she received a positive COVID-19 test.
The congresswoman believes she was exposed last Wednesday while in protective isolation in the U.S. Capitol building during the riots. A number of members who were in isolation with Watson Coleman ignored instructions to wear face masks.
"I received a positive test result for COVID-19, and am home resting at this time. While I am experiencing mild, cold-like symptoms, I remain in good spirits and will continue to work on behalf of my constituents," she said in a statement.
Watson Coleman was isolating but is now in the hospital where she is being treated for the coronavirus. Coleman has mild cold-like symptoms but her doctor recommended she receive antibody treatment.
She did receive the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Lawmakers and Capitol staff on Sunday received a memo from the Capitol's attending physician, Dr. Brian P. Monahan, warning of a possible risk of COVID-19 exposure after a large group of lawmakers were forced to gather in a secure location during the breach of the U.S. Capitol last week.
The Capitol physician did not specify which lawmakers may have been exposed nor did he say in which safe room the exposure occurred.
CNN previously reported that six House Republicans were captured on video refusing masks offered by a colleague during the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Wednesday. The video, shot from inside a safe room where the lawmakers gathered during the chaos, was published on Twitter by Punchbowl News.
Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Michael Cloud of Texas and Doug LaMalfa of California could be seen in the video unmasked and gathered closely together.
(©Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company contributed to this report.)
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