Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, pictured on a December 1, 2015 file photo, said she received a positive Covid-19 test result. | Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey, announced Monday that she has tested positive for Covid-19 after she and other members of Congress were kept in a secret location during last week’s uprising in the US Capitol.
Watson Coleman said she tested positive after receiving a rapid antigen test.
“While experiencing mild, cold-like symptoms, I remain in good spirits and will continue to work on behalf of my constituents,” Watson Coleman, who has represented New York’s 12th Congressional District since 2015, said in a statement.
The 75-year-old congressman, a cancer survivor, said she was resting at home waiting for the result of a PCR test.
All members of the House, along with their staff, were told on Sunday to be tested for Covid-19 because of possible exposure because they were hiding from rioters who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday.
In an interview with The Cut on New York Magazine on Friday, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) Said she is in quarantine.
“I’m convinced there was a superspreader event in the secure room – where there were more than 100 people and many Republicans were not wearing masks,” she told the magazine.
Watson Coleman, who has already received the first dose of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, is one of the first known members of Congress to test positive for Covid-19 after the uprising.
Rep. Donald Norcross (DN.J.) canceled public appearances on Monday after possible exposure to the virus during the riot and is awaiting test results.
It was not immediately known whether other members of the House of Representatives delegation had been tested.