Pelosi Refuses to Get Tested for Coronavirus After Being Exposed to Infected Lawmaker

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Tuesday she does not plan to be tested for coronavirus despite her proximity to the latest lawmaker diagnosed with the illness.

“In terms of my situation, I kept my distance. I said to them we all have to be six feet apart and I kept my distance from all the members,” Pelosi said in an interview with MSNBC.

She said her doctor told her that her situation was low-risk and she had no reason to take any measures.

Earlier in the month, President Donald Trump faced scrutiny from critics over his initial refusal to get tested for coronavirus after coming into contact with an infected individual.

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Trump eventually tested negative for the disease.

Rep. Nydia Velazquez, a Democrat from New York, said on Monday that she had been diagnosed with a presumed case of coronavirus after developing symptoms of the ailment on Sunday, although she had not been tested.

Velazquez was in the Capitol on Friday and attended a ceremony at which Pelosi signed a $2.2 trillion coronavirus response plan.

Velazquez said she was diagnosed with presumed coronavirus and had mild symptoms but testing had not been recommended.

At least six members of Congress have announced that they have contracted the novel coronavirus, and more than 30 others are or were self-quarantining in hopes of limiting the spread of the pandemic.

Now that Congress has passed the coronavirus legislation, and Trump has signed it into law, neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate is due back in Washington before April 20.

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(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by David Gregorio. Pluralist contributed to this report.)

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