State Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, was absent Tuesday from Harrisburg, where she should’ve been sworn in for her second term, after a positive covid-19 test.
Lee announced her positive covid-19 result on Twitter, writing that she was watching the ceremonies in Harrisburg from home while she isolates as she recovers from the virus.
“I feel OK,” Lee told the Trib. “Mostly just I lost my sense of smell, which is alarming, but we do know it’s a common symptom. I’d be classified as a mild case.”
When she was tested, she said, her only symptom was a stuffy nose. She said she does not have a fever or cough.
“I just wanted to be cautious and that’s what prompted to me to get [tested],” Lee said.
Lee said she doesn’t know how she contracted covid-19. She spent little time around people and, when she was around others, she always wore a mask, she said.
Because of her positive test, she couldn’t be sworn in Tuesday as planned.
“It’s sad,” she said. “I would like to be there. Not so much for myself, but the people of the 34th Legislative District — this is for them as much as for those getting sworn in.”
Even prior to testing positive for coronavirus, Lee said, she did have some concerns about today’s event. She said that there have already been covid-19 outbreaks in the state House of Representatives and she was worried about being in the crowded setting.
“If I had not had covid myself, I would be skeptical about going anyway. There aren’t enough safety precautions in place,” Lee said. “This day was always going to be one that was kind of — I don’t want to say dangerous — but cause for a little concern.”
Lee urged her constituents and colleagues to take the virus seriously.
“This is a time when we have to look out for one another,” she said. “It’s just so important that we come together and that we realize our safety is linked together.”
Covid-19 and economic recovery from the pandemic will be prime concerns for her as she begins her second term, Lee said.
