Las Vegas, Nev. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) in a resolution to address health and safety concerns in the Senate.
“The U.S. Senate has seen a spike in coronavirus cases endangering the health and safety of Senate complex workers, Senate staff and their families. As Senators, it’s our responsibility to uphold the health guidelines issued by our country’s top scientists and medical professionals to combat the coronavirus pandemic, which is why I’m proud to support this resolution to increase safety measures in the U.S. Senate.”
BACKGROUND:
The resolution calls for mandatory mask wearing in all public areas of Senate buildings, social distancing guidance and for the Senate to implement a testing and contact tracing system to be determined by the Office of the Attending Physician (OAP), Secretary of the Senate, and the Senate Sergeant at Arms (SAA) in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the D.C. Department of Health. It also calls for the following:
- A requirement that persons who had exposure to a COVID positive patient should quarantine for 14 days following that exposure.
- A requirement that persons who test positive for COVID should quarantine until there have been 10 days since symptoms appeared and 24 hours with no fever.
- A requirement that, before returning to the Capitol Complex, all persons with either confirmed COVID or known exposure to COVID should produce two negative tests on separate days.
- A clear ban on going to the floor or committees after a positive test until you prove you are negative.
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