Amy Barrett Hearing Included A Republican Senator Who Tested Positive For COVID-19

Sen. Mike Lee, who tested positive for COVID-19 less than two weeks ago, appeared in person Monday for Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing.

When the Utah Republican arrived in the hearing room Monday morning, he was wearing a surgical mask and could be seen interacting with his Republican colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He also briefly talked to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Lee removed his mask when it was his turn to address the committee, but he immediately put it back on when he finished speaking.

Lee was one of two Republican senators, along with North Carolina’s Thom Tillis, who contracted the COVID-19 in the days after attending a crowded White House Rose Garden ceremony. At the Sept. 26 ceremony, President Trump announced Barrett as his nomination to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Lee said he began experiencing symptoms similar to allergies on Oct. 1 and was then tested for the virus. He received his positive results later that day and entered a 10-day quarantine.

Tillis, who also sits on the Judiciary Committee, was not in the hearing room but participated virtually.

Shortly after the hearing began, Lee said he felt “great” and had been “cleared” to attend the event earlier in the morning by the Capitol’s attending physician, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

“Good as new, ready to go, and am excited for today’s hearing,” Lee said.

In a letter Monday from the congressional physician, Dr. Brian Monahan wrote that Lee had “met criteria to end COVID-19 isolation for those with mild to moderate disease.”

“Specifically, it has been greater than 10 days since symptom onset, you have had no fever in absence of fever-reducing medication for at least 24 hours, and your other symptoms have improved,” Monahan wrote. “The CDC does not recommend repeat SARS-CoV-2 PCR testing if these criteria are met.”

The CDC recommends that people who have tested positive for COVID-19 isolate for at least 14 days and longer if they still have symptoms.