Indian-American lawmaker tests positive for Covid-19, blames 'reckless' Republicans

WASHINGTON

: Two US lawmakers, including Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, implicitly accused far right

Republicans

and their extremist MAGA mob of spreading coronavirus after they (the lawmakers) tested positive for Covid-19 following a forced lockdown during the assault on the US Capitol.


Jayapal, from Washington state, and Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, from New Jersey, both

Democrats

, sheltered with their Republican colleagues in a committee room in the Capitol as they hid from marauding mobs. Videos showed Republicans lawmakers waving away masks offered by a Democratic Congresswoman. “I’m not trying to get political here.... I’ll come over there and hug you," one of them tells her.

Outside, hordes of unmasked MAGA extremists, dubbed "covidiots" for their reckless disregard for basic decency and social distancing measures, roamed the hallways of Congress, leading public health experts to warn that the Trump rally (where the President boasted of "big crowds") and the subsequent mob attack could serve as a “superspreader event.” In an email to lawmakers on Sunday, Brian Monaghan, the

Congressional

physician, warned that lawmakers may have been exposed to the virus while taking cover from rioters.

As it turned out, Jayapal and Coleman, a cancer survivor, eventually tested positive. "I just received a positive Covid-19 test result after being locked down in a secured room at the Capitol where several Republicans not only cruelly refused to wear a mask but recklessly mocked colleagues and staff who offered them one," Jayapal said in a statement.

The episode is illustrative of the meltdown in Washington DC in the final days of the Trump Presidency with a rudderless administration where officials are fleeing from the collapsing dispensation. So disastrous has been the Trump handling (or nn-handling) of the pandemic that aside from world record infections and fatalities, a newly-elected Republican lawmaker died of Covid-19 even before he could take oath, with little sign it had a salutary effect on coronavirus skeptics in the party.

Roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine has also been sketchy, leading some folks in the incoming dispensation to wonder if Congress should spend its time and energy on impeaching a President who is on his way out.

Biden and his vice-president elect have repeatedly said getting control over the pandemic is on top of their agenda. On Monday, Biden took a second shot of the vaccine, and soon after tweeted, "I urge every American to:

- Wear a mask
- Stay socially distanced
- Avoid large indoor gatherings

We can save countless lives if we step up together."

Kamala Harris added: The first 100 days of the Biden-Harris administration will focus on getting control of this pandemic—ensuring vaccines are distributed equitably and free for all.