House lawmakers, staffers, and workers will have a new widespread testing program to track the coronavirus, reports NPR.
The House partnered with the Air Force to provide the weekly 2,000 polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests for six weeks.
The announcement by Capitol attending physician Brian Monahan came Sunday night as the country faces an increase in caseloads.
So far, 25 lawmakers and more than 150 workers have tested positive for COVID-19. President Donald Trump, wife Melania, and son, Barron, also had the novel coronavirus.
“The overall direction to travelers is to obtain a COVID-19 test prior to traveling to Washington, DC, and obtain a second COVID-19 test, 3 to 5 days after your arrival. My office will provide your post arrival test,” Monahan wrote to lawmakers and staff Sunday night. “As a critical infrastructure worker, you may conduct your official business immediately on arrival in the District of Columbia.”
House members returned Monday for the first time since the Nov. 3 election.
The House in May approved new rules allowing remote voting and hearing for the first time in the chamber’s history. House Republicans sued to stop the change, though a federal judge ruled that the Constitution protected the right of the leadership to make its own rules.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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