LA Lawmaker's Coronavirus Infection Shuts Down State Capitol

MARINA DEL REY, CA — Assemblywoman Autumn Burke, D-Marina del Rey, announced Monday she has tested positive for the coronavirus after apparently being exposed while the Legislature was reviewing the state budget.

Her positive test led to a closure of the state Capitol in Sacramento so the Assembly offices could be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized.

"On July 3rd I received a call from the Assembly Human Resources Department that I had a `mask to mask' exposure to COVID-19 on June 26th," Burke wrote on her Twitter page. "I was tested on the morning of July 4th and received my results in the evening that I had tested positive for the coronavirus.

"Currently my daughter and I have no symptoms, but will be remaining in quarantine until released by a doctor," she wrote. "Thank you to everyone who has reached out with well wishes. We are fine but it is of the utmost importance that everyone stay safe, be healthy & remain vigilant."

The Los Angeles Times reported that four other people who work in the Capitol had also tested positive, and the building will be closed for a week.

A spokesman for Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, told The Times there were five confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Assembly, but he declined to identify the other patients or say if they were elected officials or staffers.

The state Assembly and Senate are both on recess this week.

Last week, eight people in the Culver City Police Department tested positive for the coronavirus.

- City News Service and Patch Editor Nicole Charky contributed to this report.

(1/2) On July 3rd I received a call from the Assembly Human Resources Department that I had a "mask to mask" exposure to COVID-19 on June 26th. I was tested on the morning of July 4th and received my results in the evening that I had tested positive for the coronavirus.
— Autumn Burke (@autumnrburke) July 6, 2020

See more:

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• COVID-19 Outbreak: Several Test Positive At Culver Police Dept.