Florida House stops in mid-session for a wipe-down and brief isolation of 5 members
Five members of the Florida House of Representatives plus one staff member attended events in Washington, D.C., where people were detected as having the novel coronavirus.
Those members were briefly isolated Monday in the middle of a House session even though they were not showing symptoms, according to House Speaker José Oliva.
The decision was made after House members expressed concern and those affected agreed, according to House spokesman Fred Piccolo.
The members are Reps. Thad Altman of Indialantic, Anthony Sabatini of Howey-in-the-Hills, Byron Donalds of Naples, Cord Byrd of Neptune Beach and Kionne McGhee of Miami.
About 15 minutes after Oliva made the announcement, the members were declared to be “low risk” and reentered the chamber to continue the session.
Rep. Cary Pigman, an emergency medicine doctor, said the members spoke with Surgeon General Scott Rivkees, who said guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not mandate that they be tested.
At least some of those members were on the House floor casting votes Monday before Oliva’s announcement.
After the announcement, all members were asked to leave the chamber, and the public galleries were emptied. Pigman and staff members wearing long-sleeved blue medical gowns, gloves and masks entered the House floor and wiped down the desks.
All five members except Donalds and McGhee had attended the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), but Oliva said they did not stay at the same hotel as a person who has COVID-19 and that they are not showing any symptoms. McGhee and Donalds attended the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, according to a House spokesman.
McGhee said he knows a lobbyist who was also at AIPAC who has been tested for the novel coronavirus in Miami but wasn’t showing symptoms while at the conference.
Two attendees of AIPAC’s recent Washington conference have tested positive for coronavirus, the organization announced Friday..
CPAC was February 26 through 29 in National Harbor, Maryland. AIPAC took place March 7 to 9 in Washington, D.C., and Sen. Perry Thurston also attended the conference.
While McGhee was being interviewed by a reporter from the Herald/Times, Pigman entered the office, and urged McGhee out. McGhee finished the interview and left with Pigman.
“Right now I’m just trying to gather information, as you’re gathering information,” the Miami Democrat said.
Soon after, it was announced that McGhee would enter a self-isolation period, which turned to be just a matter of minutes.
Donalds, who attended AIPAC with McGhee, said “we’re all fine, good in spirits.”
He said the self-isolation was “just a precaution” and that he was not showing any symptoms.
“We’re just gonna follow the orders of the DOH in Florida,” he said, referring to the Department of Health. “We’re just really waiting to get info about what the protocol is gonna be.”
Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, said a senator who attended CPAC is self-isolating. He would not identify the senator and no other information was immediately available.
Herald/Times staff writers Lawrence Mower and Mary Ellen Klas and Herald staff writer Aaron Leibowitz contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 9, 2020 at 4:05 PM with the headline "Florida House stops in mid-session for a wipe-down and brief isolation of 5 members."