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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHouse Dems modify plans for group dinner amid questions about gathering during covid surge
(CNN)Newly elected Democratic members of the House are no longer attending a group dinner planned for Statuary Hall in the Capitol Friday night after Democratic leadership faced questions about the gathering amid a national coronavirus surge.
"Members-elect are now picking up their boxed meals and departing the Capitol. There is no group dinner," Drew Hammill, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, tweeted Friday evening
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Pelosi had defended the dinner earlier in the day, telling reporters the venue was "very spaced" and that there were safety protocols in place. "It's very spaced, we have all the permission and the ventilation from the doctor," she said.
A senior Democratic aide had told CNN there was enhanced ventilation in the room, that only four members would be at each table, and that the event was happening under the direction of the Office of the Attending Physician.
In an earlier Friday evening tweet, Hammill said: "Our office strictly follows the guidance of the Office of Attending Physician, including for this dinner. To be a further model for the nation, this event has been modified to allow Members-elect to pick up their meals to go in a socially-distanced manner."
https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/13/politics/house-democrats-new-member-dinner-statuary-hall-coronavirus/index.html?utm_source=twCNNp&utm_term=image&utm_medium=social&utm_content=2020-11-14T01%3A42%3A04
LisaL
(44,962 posts)and our newly elected Democratic members getting covid.