Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), whose district includes the Oak Ridge Site, has tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, there are a batch of new cases at the Department of Energy headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Fleischmann announced in a Sunday press release that he has tested positive for the coronavirus. “Today, I learned that I have tested positive for COVID-19 after coming into contact with another infected Member of Congress, with whom I share a residence in D.C.”
Fleischmann, a member of the House Appropriations Committee’s energy and water subcommittee, which helps set the budget for DoE, did not reveal the identity of the infected Congress member. However, a Tennessee television station, WRCB reported it is Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.). Bilirakis announced his positive test last week.
“I have been in quarantine since Wednesday night, which is when I learned the individual had tested positive,” said Fleischmann, who announced his potential exposure Thursday. The Tennessee lawmaker said he currently feels “okay” and remains in self-isolation.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said in a “Dear Colleagues” email that 16 employees at DoE headquarters in Washington, D.C., tested positive in the past week. “We are pleased to report that two of the sixteen employees have recovered. In addition, seven individuals from previously reported cases have recovered,” he added.
On Saturday and Sunday, four employees at the Hanford Site in Washington state reported receiving a positive test, according to the employee advisory website for Hanford. The former plutonium production complex has recorded more than 580 since the pandemic began in the United States early in 2020. The DoE Office of Environmental Management, who runs Hanford and 14 other nuclear cleanup sites, had more than 2,600 cases of the virus confirmed in 2020.
As of Monday morning, the COVID-19 pandemic has infected 22.4 million people in the United States with 374,000 deaths resulting, according to an online tracker run by Johns Hopkins University.