‘You belong in jail!’: Republican lawmaker whose positive coronavirus test was kept secret for a week slammed by Democratic colleague

Two representatives contracted the virus this month, it has been revealed

A Republican politician has been condemned for failing to reveal he had tested positive for Covid-19 for a full week after receiving his results.

Andrew Lewis, who serves in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, revealed that he found out about his diagnosis on 14 May, but did not inform his colleagues until 20 May, according to Huffpost.

He said, in a post on Facebook, that he self-isolated as soon as he found out, and added that he told his Republican colleagues about his condition.

“I can confirm every member or staff member who met the criteria for exposure was immediately contacted and required to self-isolate for 14 days from their date of possible exposure,” he wrote.

“Out of respect for my family, and those who I may have exposed, I chose to keep my positive case private.”

However, Democratic representatives from Pennsylvania have criticised his decision and claimed they found out about Mr Lewis’ diagnosis from the media.

Jennifer O’Mara, a Democrat, tweeted: “Today, we found out *from the press* that a member of the House has tested positive for Covid-19 and other members were self-quarantining.

“I’m shocked and upset that the Majority Party chose not to disclose this information to us.”

Another Republican representative, Russ Diamond, also tested positive for coronavirus, despite being vocal on the state reopening, but did not inform Democratic colleagues immediately.

Democratic representative Brian Sims tweeted that it was hypocritical for the two Republicans and their colleagues to call for a reopening of the state, when he had tested positive for Covid-19.

“These same Members were among those leading the daily shouts to reopen the state,” he tweeted.

“They yelled and screamed about it being safe for others across the state to gather, while they were testing positive and notifying each other, but none of the Democrats that work with them!”

In an explosive Facebook Live video on Wednesday, Mr Sims called on house leader Mike Turzai to resign and for all the Republicans in the state’s House of Representatives to be investigated by the attorney general.

He accused the house speaker of engaging in a cover-up of the positive coronavirus tests and said: “You have no business in government. You have no business in the private sector. I believe you should be investigated. I belive you should be prosecuted and I believe you should be in jail.”

A spokesman for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Mike Straub, told Penn Live that Mr Lewis met the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention‘s (CDC) guidelines and “followed data and science”.