Congress’ Doctor Warns COVID Cases Are Surging
WASHINGTON — A warning Monday from the attending physician for Congress about skyrocketing COVID-19 cases is compelling lawmakers and Capitol Hill staff members to rethink their meeting schedules and masking guidelines.
A letter Dr. Brian P. Monahan wrote to House and Senate leaders says that at Capitol Hill test centers the COVID-19 positivity “rate went from less than 1 percent to greater than 13 percent” in the past week.
He urges them to adopt a policy of “maximal telework” while limiting in-person meetings as much as possible.
Monahan also wrote that cloth face masks, blue surgical masks and gaiter masks “must be replaced by the more protective KN95 or N95 masks.”
The positivity rate at the Capitol is similar to the rise in COVID-19 infections throughout the District of Columbia, making it a pandemic hotspot for the United States.
President Joe Biden repeated warnings about the pandemic during a televised address to the nation Tuesday afternoon. He explained his plan for expanding testing and doubling the availability of antiviral pills.
“These coming weeks are going to be challenging,” Biden said.
Nationally, the number of reported COVID-19 infections surpassed 1 million for the first time Monday. The U.S. infection rate also set a one-day world record for a single country.
The omicron variant infected about 61% of the people who tested positive at the Capitol. The delta variant made up 38% of the cases.
Warnings about the rise in infections prompted Senate Democrats to switch their caucus lunches to virtual meetings this week. The Capitol Visitor Center is expanding its space and personnel at its test center. House eateries are temporarily closed.
The House requires that everyone on its side of the Capitol wear masks. The Senate so far has encouraged but not required masks.
“Any group activity indoors should promote strict mask-wear compliance,” Monahan’s letter said.
He described most infections among staff members as “breakthrough” for people who have been vaccinated. So far, none of the people who tested positive were hospitalized, suffered serious complications or died, “attesting to the value of coronavirus vaccinations,” the letter said.
Natural immunity among persons who recovered from the disease is an unreliable means of protecting against reinfection, according to Monahan and other medical experts.
“Individuals previously relying on recovery of natural infection should receive coronavirus vaccination at the earliest opportunity,” the letter said.
The Office of the Attending Physician had administered at least 7,500 boosters to Capitol staff members by Monday.
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