Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) announced on Tuesday that he will sequester himself in his home in Virginia after having dined with a friend who ended up testing positive for COVID-19.
“This afternoon my wife Megan and I were contacted by the Virginia Department of Health to share details with us about the illness of a friend who tested positive for COVID-19 after dining with us,” Beyer said in a statement. “They informed us that the timeline of his infection began shortly after our contact on February 28.”
“At the request of the public health officials, I will self-quarantine to ensure that I do not pass on any potential illness to others,” he continued. “In the 10 days since that dinner neither of us has shown symptoms, and we understand that the probability that we have an infection is low.”
Beyer is the second Democratic House lawmaker after Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA) to self-quarantine due to contact with a coronavirus patient.
Five Republicans have had to do so after an attendee at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) contracted the disease. That includes Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), who will soon serve as President Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff. Trump himself has made contact with several of these GOP lawmakers but has declined to take a test for the virus.
As of Wednesday morning, the number of coronavirus cases in the United States had shot up to over 1,000 and at least 32 people had died, according to CBS News.
Correction: A previous version of this post incorrectly stated Beyer as being a Washington state lawmaker. We regret the error.
