Covid-19 infections in the U.S. Congress have surged 13-fold, and attending physicians at the Capitol urged telecommuting

Jimu News trainee reporter Huang Jiaqi

According to Reuters news on January 3, the number of new crown pneumonia infection cases in the US Congress is surging unprecedentedly, and Brian Monahan, the attending doctor at the Capitol, said that at a new crown virus testing point in Congress, the 7-day positivity rate soared from 1% at the end of November to 13%.

Screenshot of the Reuters report

Brian Monaghan told MPs and staff in a report that according to a limited sample as of Dec. 15 last year, most coronavirus infections on Capitol Hill occurred among vaccinated populations, with the Omicron variant accounting for about 61 percent and the Delta variant about 38 percent. The report also revealed that 65% of the new crown pneumonia infection cases in Congress showed symptoms.

Noting that among those vaccinated on Capitol Hill, COVID-19 infection did not result in hospitalization, serious complications or death, he said the fact that this proved the importance of vaccination.

The Senate was scheduled to return to Congress on January 3, 2022, after the end of the year-end holiday, but only one brief meeting was held due to the premature closure of the COVID-19 testing site in Congress due to a snowstorm.

The Capitol in the blizzard, source Reuters Brian Monaghan demanded that the rule of wearing masks in the Capitol be maintained and that lawmakers and staff should wear medical masks instead of simple cloth masks.

He also urged Congress to adopt "maximum telecommuting" to reduce face-to-face meetings and office activities.

According to Reuters, the number of new COVID-19 infections in the United States has doubled in the past seven days, reaching an average of 418,000 cases per day.

The U.S. government has been urging vaccinated Americans to get boosters and urging unvaccinated people to get vaccinated because they have a much higher risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19.