'Government Activity Is Essential': D.C. Mayor's Office Publicly States, John Lewis Funeral Attendees Exempt From Coronavirus Restrictions

Clay Robinson | August 3, 2020
DONATE
Font Size

Washington lawmakers who attended the late Rep. John Lewis’ funeral in Atlanta, Georgia last week are exempt from the District of Columbia’s coronavirus restrictions, according to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. 

According to Bowser’s recent quarantine order, “All residents and persons traveling to or from ‘high-risk areas’ within the prior fourteen (14) days for non-essential travel must self-quarantine for fourteen (14) days following their return or arrival to the District.”

The State of Georgia is currently considered a ‘high-risk area,’ according to the definitions given in Bowser’s order.

However, a spokesperson for Bowser said that Lewis' funeral attendees would be exempt from the mayor’s quarantine rules. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) were among those in attendance.

Bowser Press Secretary Susana Castillo told Just the News Friday, “Government activity is essential, and the Capitol of the United States is exempt from the Mayor’s order.”

When asked whether attending the funeral was considered ‘government activity’, Castillo responded, “Yes.”

But when Castillo was asked if attendees of a non-government funeral would have to self-quarantine after returning from ‘high-risk areas’, the spokesperson also responded with, “Yes.”

Bowser’s exemption comes after Speaker Pelosi announced last Wednesday that all Congressional members and staffers would be required to wear masks in the chambers or risk being removed.

Rep. John Lewis was a longtime member of Congress and a prominent figure of the American civil rights movement who passed on July 17 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. 

donate