A person who is presumptively positive with Covid-19 was in the Statehouse during Monday’s special legislative session, according to an email sent from Capitol Police to legislators and legislative staff Wednesday afternoon.
“We do not perceive this circumstance to be a high risk for transmission, due to the transient nature of Monday’s activities, and the limited time frame for exposure,” read the email, which was shared with VTDigger.
The person was not symptomatic and did not know they may have been infected when they came to the Statehouse on Monday, according to the Capitol Police email.
Vaccinated people do not have to quarantine after a Covid-19 exposure unless they develop symptoms, according to guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Everyone who entered the Statehouse on Monday was required to wear a mask.
The Capitol Police email recommended that any unvaccinated individuals get tested twice — as soon as two days after exposure and then again seven days after exposure.
The CDC defines a case as “presumptive” when there is a positive antigen test. Antigen tests are less sensitive than PCR tests.
Capitol Police Chief Matthew Romei said he could not speak to why this case was labeled “presumptive.”
Rep. Mari Cordes, D-Lincoln, on Wednesday tweeted a screenshot of a Covid-19 exposure text alert.
Gov. Phil Scott had called the one-day special legislative session to consider whether municipalities should be authorized to impose their own mask mandates as a way to fight the spread of Covid-19, she said. While the Senate was able to meet remotely, a quorum of the House was required to do business.
“Community transmission is so high right now. This was a very risky move on the governor’s part, and so any illnesses that come from this day at the Statehouse are on Gov. Scott,” Cordes said in an interview. “Because of that, and because of his profound lack of leadership in this Delta surge, I am calling on him to resign.”
“We will not dignify the representative’s fringe, out-of-touch comments with a response,” the governor’s spokesperson, Jason Maulucci, wrote in an email to VTDigger on Wednesday afternoon.
[Looking for data on breakthrough cases? See our reporting on the latest available statistics.]
Romei said this was the first mass-exposure notification his department has had to send, but the language had been written and was on standby for some time, just in case.
“We control the notifications, so when legislative leadership calls and says, ‘Hey, we’ve got a presumptive positive and this is the messaging we need to go out,’ a lot of that messaging we’ve had pre-crafted for some time, basically waiting on this to happen,” Romei said.
Conor Kennedy, chief of staff for House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, said he knew who tested positive but declined to share their name, citing respect for the person’s privacy.
“We’ve had discussions at a very high level, but out of respect for personal health information and the process overall, we’re just following health department and CDC guidelines, just to let everyone know,” Kennedy said.
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