Frankel ‘horrified’ by House GOP failure after member tests positive

Says House GOP actions and silence an ‘abdication’ of responsibility, leadership amid crisis

HARRISBURG, May 27 – Today, members of the PA House Democratic caucus learned that four members of the Republican Caucus have been in self quarantine after one of those four tested positive for COVID-19 a week ago.

State Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, minority chair of the House Health Committee, issued the following statement:

“Over the past two weeks in the Health Committee and on the floor, my Democratic colleagues and I have fended off a litany of attempts to degrade public health protections while Republican members were personally flouting the rules by refusing to wear masks to protect other members and scheduling meetings in tiny rooms with members packed together.

“All the while, some Republican members knew that their own membership had been exposed to Covid-19, and they chose to keep that information secret.

“Republicans have gone to battle for the argument that personal responsibility to follow CDC guidelines alone was enough to protect the public. Now, we learn that they didn’t even attempt to protect their own members or the communities that their members return to.

“Pennsylvanians are suffering greatly from this medical and financial catastrophe, and many of them are being asked to place the health and safety of others ahead of their own well-being. I am horrified to learn that members of the General Assembly failed to do the right thing, at a time when so many Pennsylvanians are doing so in much more difficult situations.

“The failure of these Republican members and their leadership to follow basic safety protocols makes plain their disregard for those around them, but worse: it reveals a total abdication of their responsibility to act as leaders during this confusing time.

“The virus doesn’t care about someone’s ideology.

“The virus doesn’t care if you believe in it.”