Washington D.C., Virginia, and Maryland have seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases following the visit of Texas House Democrats who tested positive for COVID-19 after traveling to the nation's capitol while not following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
According to a report by Fox 5 Washington DC, 256 new positive cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Maryland and 43 new positive cases in the District of Columbia on Monday. Additionally, according to WDVM, the number of positive cases in northern Virginia, particularly Fairfax County, have steadily increased throughout July to “an average of over 60 cases per day, compared to an average of 20-30 cases per day at the end of June.” It is not clear how many of these reported cases were caused by the delta variant.
This spike in COVID-19 cases comes shortly after over 50 Texas Democrat lawmakers flew cross-country to Washington, D.C., unmasked, in a private airplane to block Republicans from obtaining quorum and passing a new voter integrity law. Days later, positive cases of COVID-19 emerged among some of the lawmakers who participated in the impromptu trip to our nation’s capital.
As the Texas Tribune reported on July 17, five Texas House members who embarked on the trip had tested positive. Three days later, the Tribune reported the number climbed to six. Some of the cases occurred with individuals who are fully vaccinated, such as State Rep. Donna Howard (D-Austin).
Vaccinated staffers on the national stage are not immune to the insurgence of the virus, either. Just last week, vaccinated workers within both the White House and for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also tested positive for the virus, known as “breakthrough” cases.
Imagine if 50 GOP state reps skipped work, drank beer on a private jet while ignoring federal mask mandates, held a press conference to spread flagrant lies that’ve been debunked, and then infected the Speaker’s Office and White House with COVID. Just imagine.#TexasDemocrats
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) July 20, 2021
To combat the spike in positive cases, House of Representatives Attending Physician Dr. Brain Monahan reinstated the mask mandate in Congress’ lower chamber on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, Director of DC Health, issued a statement on the spike.
“DC Health is reviewing the updated CDC guidance related to mask wearing. Similar to trends across the nation, the District of Columbia has experienced a four-fold increase in its daily case rate since the beginning of July,” Nesbitt said in the statement. “We continue to learn about new variants, and these insights may require us to revisit other protective measures. Wearing a mask in indoor public settings provides an additional layer of protection for those who are fully vaccinated — and continues to be one of the key ways to protect those who cannot be vaccinated, namely young children.”
Not only did the Texas Dems cause an outbreak, they likely helped pushed DC into the "substantial" zone that caused DC's indoor mask mandate under this new guidance.
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) July 27, 2021
To reach "substantial", states have to be at 50 cases/100K over 7 days. DC is at 52.
Send thanks to @TexasHDC https://t.co/VJy61wqmNR
As if that weren’t enough, some of the Democrats who’ve tested positive now say they would appreciate care packages from “home,” a.k.a., their constituents. If you feel so inclined to send one of these lawmakers salsa, candy, Dr. Pepper, or give money to pay for shipping costs, Dallas Democrats can hook you up.
These utter morons have been gone for literally only days and want a care package mailed from Texas for a photo op with stuff they could buy at a local CVS.
— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) July 26, 2021
Salsa and first aid? ??????????