The Arizona State Legislature will close for the week after at least 15 current or future Republican legislators may have been exposed to COVID-19 during meetings with President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.
The president announced on Sunday that Giuliani had tested positive for the virus, less than one week after the attorney held an unofficial voter fraud hearing in Phoenix on November 30. Giuliani and his colleague Jenna Ellis spoke unmasked for about 11 hours with several lawmakers.
Giuliani also visited the state capitol one day later and met with a number of additional lawmakers before continuing his legal tour in Michigan and Georgia.
In an email sent to all state senators and staff, obtained by the Arizona Capitol Times, State Senate Chief of staff Wendy Baldo wrote that the Senate will be closed all week “due to COVID-19 concerns and out of an abundance of caution.”
A State House GOP spokesman said the House would also close.
At least three interim committee meetings that were scheduled to be held with Republicans and staff in a hearing room and Democrats attending by video must be rescheduled remotely, the email said.
It is unclear when Giuliani tested positive or when he was exposed. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the incubation period for COVID-19 is thought to extend to 14 days, with a median time of 4-5 days from exposure to the onset of symptoms.
Several lawmakers who attended the hearing attended the Legislature’s new member orientation later in the week, potentially exposing more lawmakers and many state government employees, the Arizona Capitol Times reported. Only one of the new Republican lawmakers consistently donned a mask at the three-day orientation.
Arizona is experiencing an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases, having reported 5,376 positive cases on Sunday, along with 25 deaths bringing the state’s overall total to 364,276 reported cases and 6,950 deaths.