Texas state Rep. Donna Howard said Tuesday that she has tested positive for the coronavirus but is relatively asymptomatic aside from minor congestion. Photo courtesy of Texas state Rep. Donna Howard/Twitter
July 21 (UPI) — A sixth Texas House Democrat has tested positive for the coronavirus after staging a party exudes from the state last week to deny Republicans the ability to pass a restrictive voting law.
Donna Howard announced in a statement Tuesday that she had contracted COVID-19 in Washington, D.C., where she and some 60 Democrats had fled to July 12 to deny state Republicans the quorum needed to pass a bill they described as anti-voter legislation.
“Despite following [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines and being fully vaccinated, I tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday,” she said. “I am grateful that the vaccine has been showed to be up to 96% effective in preventing serious illness as I am basically asymptomatic except for some minor congestion.”
She has taken to self-isolation where she will continue to work, the former nurse said while suggesting that she has been infected with the highly contagious Delta variant, which CDC Directot Dr. Rochelle Walensky said now accounts of an estimated 83% of new COVID-19 cases in the Untied States.
The Texas Democrats have for months fought the bill to ban drive-through and 24-hour voting and other voting restrictions, which Republican throughout the country have been pursing in the wake of losing the presidency in an election that has been deemed safe and secure.
On the last day of May, the Democrats forced Gov. Gregg Abbott to hold the summer special session when the staged a walkout of the Texas House chambers to first deny them the quorum needed.
Howard’s announcement came days after Trey Martinez Fischer and Celia Israel, both fully vaccinated state Democrats in Washington, D.C., announced on Sunday that they had contracted the virus. The Texas Democratic Caucus announced Friday three lawmakers had been infected.
The admission of Howard’s sickness was made on the same day the press office of Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said the California Democrat was working remotely after two staffers tested positive for COVID-19.