House floor session canceled after second COVID-19 case detected

Published 9:00 am Monday, March 29, 2021

SALEM — The Oregon House of Representatives will delay a floor session initially scheduled for Monday, March 29, after a second person who was in the Capitol building was diagnosed with coronavirus.

A spokesperson for Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek said on March 28 that the next floor session, scheduled for March 30, has not been canceled and will not be unless staff are notified of more COVID-19 cases in the building.

An email to Capitol staff sent out March 28 said that the person who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 had last been in the building on March 16, and those who have been in close proximity with the person have been informed.

It’s the second coronavirus case detected in the Capitol that’s prompted the House to cancel in-person meetings.

Kotek canceled several sessions suddenly on March 22, after learning that someone who had been in the chamber during sessions the previous week had the virus. Kotek ended up canceling in-person meetings for the rest of the week, with original plans to start again on March 29.

Neither of the people diagnosed with COVID-19 have been identified.

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