More Democrats from Texas State Test Positive for COVID-19

By Staff, Agencies

The number of Texas state Democratic lawmakers who have tested positive for COVID-19 rose to five - of the more than 50 who fled the state last week - after two more confirmed their test results Sunday.

The confirmation comes a day after three other Texas state House members tested positive for the virus, despite being fully vaccinated.

“In light of some positive COVID-19 tests over the weekend, the House Democratic Caucus has decided to go beyond CDC guidance and provide daily rapid tests for all Members and staff in Washington, D.C., for this week,” the Texas House Democrats said in a statement.

“As part of this precautionary testing, today two additional Members who were fully vaccinated tested positive. All of the HDC Members who tested positive are feeling good, with no symptoms or only mild symptoms.”

While the statement did not reveal which lawmakers had tested positive - presumably because some people are still entitled to private medical records - both Rep. Celia Israel and Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer announced that they had done so; the latter even though he said he was fully vaccinated.

The Texas state legislators met with Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer [D-NY], and Sen. Joe Manchin [D-WVa] during their sojourn to Washington, DC, as they tried to prevent the state Republican Party from calling a quorum on its voting reform bill.

Harris' senior adviser and chief spokesperson Symone Sanders said that the VP would not be getting tested as she and her staff were not at risk of exposure and because they were fully vaccinated, which might seem hubristic as it is likely that the Texas lawmakers who returned positive results were similarly inoculated.