WASHINGTON – After receiving a positive diagnosis of coronavirus on Sunday, U. S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5, said she felt “extremely breathless,” with throat irritation, coughing and shortness of breath on Monday.
“Within 48 hours, I went from being uncomfortable with what I thought were seasonal allergies to obviously shortness of air, fever and taking Tylenol,” she says. I said, “It’s scary. “
Hayes said he would now advocate normal coronavirus testing for Capitol members after contracting the virus at the end of a busy week of voting in the House. Sunday and get your positive result.
“I think it’s irresponsible of us not to test ourselves or not to take the temperature,” he said. “They left the ground blank between the votes, but we did everything: we wear masks, we walked away socially, we didn’t leave visitors to the office. I’ve hardly attended public events or press conferences.
He said he “had no idea” whether he had become infected with any other member of the House virus or whether he had been infected, but he dressed in a mask and practiced social estgnation.
“We tried to go through all the scenarios,” he said. I spoke to the house doctor and they tried to perceive it by touch search. With so many members, I can’t believe how. . . “
Hayes is in quarantine for 14 days, but he will continue to paint remotely, participate in proxy voting, attend virtual hearings and organize two of his bills, to the extent his physical condition allows, he said. to get tested, either in Connecticut and in the Washington, DC area, he said.
“Checks are very limited on weekends,” he said, described how several visits and long queues were needed at checkpoints. “Three of my workers had to pay $75 out of pocket because the sites they discovered had vacancies were not loose sites. and they didn’t take their insurance. “
Hayes spoke to Governor Ned Lamont and Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat for Connecticut, and told them about his experiences, he said. He asked Lamont to advertise on the United Way 211 website, which lists all verification sites in Connecticut, and to upload more data. to the site so Americans know if checks are loose or what fitness insurance is being accepted, he said.
“The governor has affirmed his commitment to ensuring that Connecticut citizens have the most productive data available in terms of availability testing and access to testing. Connecticut remains one of the most productive states tested in the country,” said Max Reiss, Connecticut’s powerful testing infrastructure, and access to nearly 180 sites are some of the many reasons why Connecticut’s COVID-19 reaction is among the most productive in the country. “
Hayes wrote an email to House leaders, such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat on Monday, calling for the normality of lawmakers, she said.
“We have had this verbal exchange several times in recent months and there was a fear that we did not want, while communities were suffering from being tested, other people were uncomfortable that House members had access to the evidence. But my answer is for everyone to get tested, ” he said. “We come in combination in those contexts with other people across the country. “
By noon on Monday, only one member at the Hayes, Connecticut and D. C. offices. had tested positive for the virus, but many were still waiting for the results of the checks. Hayes is also waiting for a result of controlling his son Myles.
Her husband, Milford Hayes, a Waterbury police detective, tested negative on Sunday and contracted a coronavirus in April but asymptomatic, and Hayes was also quarantined for 14 days at the time.
She said the delight had led her to think about how the federal coronavirus law supplies families like hers, whose members contract the virus at other times and want attention.
emilie. munson@hearstdc. com; Twitter: @emiliemunson
Emilie Munson is a regional correspondent for Hearst Newspapers based in Washington, D. C. She covers the Connecticut and New York Congressional delegations for Hearst Connecticut Media and Albany-Times Union. Previously, Emilie was a reporter in the state capital for Hearst Connecticut Media, covering politics and government. He received the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2017 for his five-part series “Behind the Front Door”. The series explored the intersection of domestic violence and wealth in Greenwich, Connecticut. She also worked as an educational reporter for Greenwich Time.