Multiple members of Congress have tested positive for coronavirus

| 9:18 pm EDT March 18, 2020
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Well we’re in it now. Earlier this evening Republican Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart announced that he had just learned he’d tested positive for coronavirus, after he’d been in self-quarantine with symptoms on Saturday. Now a second Congressman has also tested positive.

Republican Congressman Ben McAdams just announced that he’s also just now gotten a positive test result for coronavirus, after also having been ill since Saturday. We wish them both a speedy recovery. With two House members having both begun showing symptoms at the same time while they were both in Washington DC, the question now is whether they each caught it independently from interactions that had nothing to do with Congress, or if this means the virus is spreading through Congress.

There’s no way to know yet what’s going on here for sure – but it’s worth keeping a close eye on. At this point the House and Senate will probably have to stop convening in person, out of an abundance of caution. The Senate finally passed the House’s emergency coronavirus response legislation today. But the Senate is still looking to take up economic stimulus legislation this week. It’s not clear what’ll happen now.