Arizona Congressman Raúl Grijalva Tests Positive for COVID-19

Arizona Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva has tested positive for COVID-19, his office confirmed in a statement Saturday.

Grijalva's communications director, Geoff Nolan, told CNN that the Capitol's physician notified Grijalva about testing positive for COVID-19 on Friday evening.

Since Grijalva was in a hearing last Tuesday with Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert, who tested positive for COVID-19 the day after, he went into self-isolation until he got tested, Nolan said. He is in quarantine at his Washington area home.

For now, Grijalva shows no symptoms linked to the virus. "He's feeling fine and is just getting some rest," Nolan said.

This is confirmed by a press release on the House website: "I currently have no symptoms, feel fine, and hope to make a quick and speedy recovery."

Grijalva issued a statement last Saturday, where he slammed Republicans who did not wear masks in the building, taking note of the week's events.

He said he couldn't blame anyone directly, but the past week in Congress has shown that some of its members fail to "take this crisis seriously."

He noted that there are "numerous Republican members" who walk around the Capitol without a mask. In this move, he said those people were making a "selfish" political statement that puts their colleagues, staff, and families at risk.

COVID-19 in the Congress Floors

After some close calls, Grijalva is the first known member of Arizona's congressional delegation who tested positive of the virus, said USA Today affiliate AZ Central.

But twelve Congress members are known to have been confirmed of having the virus. Rand Paul, Morgan Griffith, Tom Rice, Neal Dunn, Nydia Velázquez, Mike Kelly, Joe Cunningham, Seth Moulton, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Ben McAdams are to name.

NPR said in their report that there are also over 60 Capitol Hill workers exposed to the virus. On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that every member and staff working for the Congress would be required to wear face masks in the House chamber, except when they are recognized to speak.

Nolan noted that the Arizona rep wears a mask every day that he works in the Capitol.

With that, Grijalva praised Pelosi's mandate. "I'm pleased that Speaker Pelosi has mandated the use of masks at the Capitol to keep members and staff safe," he said.

He also noted that the use of face masks and stopping the spread of COVID-19 should not be an issue between political parties.

He urged people not to take the virus lightly and follow guidelines set by CDC "to keep our family, friends, and loved ones safe." He said that all could play a part in stopping the spread of the virus in their state.

Grijalva's home state of Arizona has reported an average of 2,530 new COVID-19 cases in a day this week, as seen in the tracking done by NPR. Since early this year, the state has had more than 174,000 cases and about 3,700 deaths from the virus.

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