Newly inaugurated U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel, who represents California’s 48th Congressional District, has tested positive for COVID-19.
“This morning, I learned I had been in contact with an individual who tested positive for COVID-19,” Steel said in a Jan. 6 statement. “I have no symptoms, but out of an abundance of caution received a test through the Office of the Attending Physician ... and tested positive.
“At the advice of the attending physician, and to protect the health of my colleagues, I will be quarantining.”
Steel, who was sworn into Congress on Jan. 3, previously served as an Orange County supervisor. She was elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 2014.
“Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic was likely the biggest challenge I had to face during my time on the board, but my colleagues and I realized the severity of this crisis early and declared a state of emergency in February, before the state did,” Steel said in a recent statement.
“We quickly and effectively distributed CARES Act funding to cities so that small businesses could be assisted and worked closely with the Orange County Health Care Agency to make sure that Orange County’s healthcare system had everything it needed to face the health crisis. I am proud to know that in my last weeks as chairwoman, the first COVID-19 vaccines were distributed to Orange County’s frontline healthcare workers.”
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