Courtney Set To Return To Washington After Coronavirus Quarantine

VERNON, CT — U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-02) said Tuesday he expects to be cleared by doctors to return to Washington D.D. next week following last week's announcement that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Courtney said he has been working from his home in Vernon while quarantining.

"I’ve continued to work remotely while recovering at home in Vernon, and I'm glad to report that my doctor has officially cleared me to end quarantine and to resume work in-person," Courtney said. "My team’s work for eastern Connecticut hasn't slowed down in the past two weeks, and there’s more coming up fast on the horizon."

Courtney said the agenda includes:

• Finalizing negotiations this week on the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act
• His bipartisan virus relief bill to protect "educational impact aid funding for military schoolchildren" is expected to be signed into law
• The House is working to complete a spending package containing "several important items for the region"

"A clean bill of health from my doctor means that I’ll be able to travel to Washington, DC to resume this work in person, and I’m grateful for our medical professionals and for my family who helped me to stay on the path towards a successful recovery," Courtney said. "My experience with COVID-19 was thankfully a relatively mild one, and my family and I are grateful that was the case. But that has not been the experience of hundreds of thousands of other Americans."

He said it accentuates the need for help.

"As we near the end of 2020, while American families are struggling and hospital beds are filling up, it’s clear that folks need more assistance—our health care workers, our local small businesses and restaurants, working families uncertain about the future, and so many others," Courtney said. "It is imperative that Congress and the White House, in the final weeks of the lame duck session, find a way to approve emergency COVID relief which is screaming out for action."

Courtney expressed a lot of gratitude.

“I want to thank all the staff at UConn Health Center for their care, my wife Audrey and daughter Elizabeth who did so much to keep my isolation secure, and all who reached out with encouragement and well-wishes since my diagnosis," he said. "It meant a great deal to my family and me, and it was another strong reminder of the tight-knit community we have here in eastern Connecticut—a community that I am proud to represent every single day."