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Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida are now the third and fourth congressmen to take the step, following the same announcements from Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona on Sunday.
A fifth Republican congressman — Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas — was told by officials on Sunday that he had been in proximity to the individual, but Gohmert is not planning to self-quarantine, a Gohmert aide tells CNN. The doctor told Gohmert that if it were him, he’d go back to Washington and observe good hygiene, according to the aide. Gohmert confirmed his decision on Twitter.
Ina separate development, Democratic Rep. Julia Brownley of California also announced that she was closing her Washington office for the week and would be “self-monitoring and maintaining social distancing practices” as will her Washington staff, after interacting with an individual with the coronavirus last week. CNN has reached out to her office for additional details about her plans.
Collins shook hands with Trump when the President visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta last week. Gaetz rode on Air Force Once with the President on Monday.
Collins announced the decision in a statement Monday afternoon, saying he was notified by the organizers of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference Monday afternoon that they had found a photograph of Collins with the individual who tested positive for coronavirus.
“While I feel completely healthy and I am not experiencing any symptoms, I have decided to self-quarantine at my home for the remainder of the 14-day period out of an abundance of caution,” Collins wrote.
Gaetz announced his own self-quarantine in a string of tweets later Monday, stating, “While the Congressman is not experiencing symptoms, he received testing today and expects results soon.”
“Under doctor’s usual precautionary recommendations, he’ll remain self-quarantined until the 14-day period expires this week,” the tweet said.
Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and a number of other administration officials also attended the conference, but the American Conservative Union, which runs the event every year, said the infected attendee did not come into contact with the President or Pence.
Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Gosar stressed the need to stay calm about the virus.
“I am in interviews all the way across the board putting out the hysteria,” he said.
A number of House and Senate offices have begun practicing how they would operate if a chunk of aides were forced into quarantine and had to work from home, congressional sources say.
US Capitol Police are working to ensure that secure communications can continue off-site. The leaders of key congressional committees, along with law enforcement authorities and the Capitol physician’s office, have informed each lawmaker’s office to prepare contingency plans in case of an outbreak.
And lawmakers say it’s possible that more extreme measures could have to be taken — such as limiting tourists in the Capitol or moving legislative business off-site — though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Monday the virus should not shut down the Capitol.
“No. No, no no, no. Do you understand no?” Pelosi said as she entered her office.
“At this time, there is no reason to do so. But it’s not my decision. It’s a security and health decision, and we’ll be depending on experts.”
This story has been updated with additional reporting Monday about the status of lawmakers who have possibly been exposed to the Covid-19 coronavirus.
CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, Jermy Herb, Kaitlan Collins, Manu Raju and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.
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