Pa. Dems accuse GOP of keeping Rep. Lewis' coronavirus diagnosis a ‘secret’

Western Pennsylvania Democrats are accusing Republican lawmakers of keeping the status of a GOP colleague who tested positve for the coronavirus a “secret.”

Rep. Andrew Lewis issued a statement on Wednesday making it known that he tested positive for covid-19 and has fully recovered.

The freshman lawmaker from Dauphin County, who is seeking a second-term of office this year, is the first Pennsylvania state lawmaker to test positive for the new virus.

The admission immediately ignited outrage among Democrats in the chamber who said they were recklessly left in the dark for nearly a week about the lawmaker’s condition.

Some House Democrats are unhappy they found out today that Rep. Andrew Lewis tested positive for COVID-19 on May 20th.
It’s unclear when Speaker Turzai and the rest of House Republicans found about Lewis’ positive COVID-19 test. https://t.co/hRvXRGXBIQ

— Chelsea Koerbler (@ChelseaKoerbler) May 27, 2020

Lewis, 33, said he suffered only mild flu-like symptoms that included a fever for less than 24 hours and a light cough that led him to be tested on May 18 for coronavirus.

He said he was notified two days later that his test came back positive.

“I immediately began self-isolation protocol and contacted the House of Representatives, and our caucus Human Resources department. My last day in the Capitol was Thursday, May 14,” Lewis said..

“We worked together and followed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s workplace exposure guidelines to determine exactly who I may have been in contact with, and who I may have possibly exposed to the virus. I can confirm every member or staff member who met the criteria for exposure was immediately contacted and required to self-isolate for 14 days from their date of possible exposure.”

State Rep. Andrew Lewis said he has fully recovered after spending two weeks in self-isolation following a positive test for COVID-19 earlier this month. The Dauphin County Republican said he suffered "mild" symptoms. https://t.co/ER3ScH1j8R

— WPMT FOX43 (@fox43) May 27, 2020

Lewis said out of respect for his family and those who he may have exposed to the virus, he kept his positive case private until he fully recovered and completed the quarantine.

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, isn’t buying that. She suggests a more sinister motive on behalf of her GOP colleagues, according to a Facebook post penned Wednesday evening.

“From day one we had Republican colleagues unapologetically trivializing and politicizing this pandemic,” she wrote. “Republicans knew for a WEEK, and not a single Dem was notified. They knew!”

She added that the GOP camp was “playing politics” with the health of other lawmakers and constituents by potentially exposing them to the virus.

“They have shown a callous disregard for lives of people in our communities.”

“I look forward to being a resource in sharing my experiences with covid-19 and helping our community navigate this crisis together,” Lewis said. “I feel very fortunate to report I suffered only mild symptoms, a fever that lasted roughly 24 hours, and a brief cough. I feel completely fine and I look forward to fully resuming my duties to the people of the 105th district.”

In light of Lewis’ statement, state Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, questioned the way GOP lawmakers kept the news secret until Wednesday.

“Over the past two weeks in the Health Committee and on the floor, my Democratic colleagues and I have fended off a litany of attempts to degrade public health protections while Republican members were personally flaunting the rules by refusing to wear masks to protect other members and scheduling meetings in tiny rooms with members packed together,” Frankel, who lives in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood and is minority chair of the House Health Committee, said in a statement.

“All the while, some Republican members knew that their own membership had been exposed to covid-19, and they chose to keep that information secret.”

Republicans have made the argument that “personal responsibility to follow CDC guidelines alone was enough to protect the public,” Frankel said.

“Now, we learn that they didn’t even attempt to protect their own members or the communities that their members return to,” he said. “I am horrified to learn that members of the General Assembly failed to do the right thing, at a time when so many Pennsylvanians are doing so in much more difficult situations.”

Frankel called the GOP members’ failure to follow what he termed basic safety protocols “a total abdication of their responsibility to act as leaders during this confusing time.”

“The virus doesn’t care about someone’s ideology,” Frankel said. “The virus doesn’t care if you believe in it.”