Attorney General upset Pa. lawmakers didn’t disclose COVID-19 cases, but won’t investigate

There's nothing criminal about having COVID-19, according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. 

On Thursday, Shapiro confirmed his staff would not investigate concerns over state GOP House members who had not disclosed positive COVID-19 test results to colleagues. 

"Each day frontline workers put themselves in harm's way to provide essential services and their safety depends on strong protections, the availability and use of PPE, and a common decency and transparency from their fellow workers, management and clientele. It is disappointing to hear allegations that this standard was not met in the state House," Shapiro said in a statement. 

Shapiro's decision came in response to Democrats who demanded an investigation. 

On Wednesday, state Rep. Brian Sims (D-Philadelphia) released a Facebook Live video criticizing Republican leadership for not disclosing information about members who had tested positive for COVID-19 including Rep. Andrew Lewis of Dauphin County. 

Later, Rep. Kevin J. Boyle (D-Philadelphia) and Democratic Chair for the House State Government Committee submitted a letter to Shapiro's office calling for a formal investigation. 

Related:State Rep. Brian Sims rips GOP members for silence after testing positive for COVID-19

On Thursday, several Democrats, including state Sen. Tim Kearney (D – Chester, Delaware) and state Rep. Joe Ciresi (D-Montgomery) voiced support for an investigation.

"We have received requests to conduct a criminal investigation by several members of the state House. While I understand their frustration and concern, a criminal investigation is not warranted based on our initial review," Shapiro said. 

Beaver County state Rep. Josh Kail, a Republican, sits on the House Judiciary and Liquor Control committees with Lewis, but he said Thursday they had not met in person since March.

“Thankfully, I haven’t had any contact with him,” Kail said.

Kail refuted Democratic accusations that Lewis’ condition was made known to Republicans, saying that he learned of Lewis testing positive only from reports on Wednesday.

Related:Harrisburg protest draws nearly a thousand asking Wolf to reopen Pennsylvania's economy

Related:Lebanon County revolts against Gov. Wolf as no other county in Pennsylvania has done

“There were very few people who actually knew,” Kail said, who echoed other GOP members insisting that Lewis followed guidelines put out by the CDC and the Wolf administration.

Another Beaver County Republican, state Rep. Jim Marshall, also said he was unaware of Lewis’ condition until he spoke with a Democratic colleague on Wednesday.

Marshall, who said he has had no interaction with Lewis, said Lewis was obligated to tell all House members about his positive test as well as the public because of his movements outside of the Capitol building.

“When you’re an elected official, you no longer have privacy,” Marshall said. “I think it should’ve been made public.”

In a press release today, the Lebanon Democratic Committee called for the resignation of state Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon, in a statement that also endorsed state House Democrats' demands that speaker Mike Turzai’s resign.

In a statement, the committee said Diamond should resign "due to his total disregard for the health and safety of the citizens of Lebanon County and his disruptive behavior encouraging citizens to engage in civil disobedience endangering their health and the health of others."

Diamond has led the fight to reopen the state economy and was also in contact with someone at the Capitol who had the novel coronavirus  He put out a statement earlier this week saying that he has self-quarantined for 14 days.

The Capitol was never closed to lawmakers during the height of the outbreak and many Republicans, Kail included, have been traveling to Harrisburg instead of working and voting remotely from their districts.

House Republican Caucus spokesman Stephen Miskin said the GOP protocols mirrored those recommended by the CDC and the Wolf administration.

If there were a confirmed positive case, the guidelines call for notifying anyone who had been in “close contact” with the infected person, which is defined as within 6 feet for at least 10 minutes in the 48 hours before symptoms were apparent.

Anyone who develops symptoms was instructed to notify human resources and told to self-isolate for 14 days from when symptoms develop.

Miskin said a person’s “medical history or condition” is protected under the law so the GOP caucus “would be breaking the law if we announced anything about (Lewis’) medical status, or even information that could lead to him being identified. He chose to make his test public.”

Also, Miskin said that the 48-hour period “is worth noting” because Lewis was “only in the Capitol for a short period of time within that window.”

Consequently, contact tracing was “easily verified,” Miskin said.

“The 14-day isolation period for those exposed ends this afternoon, so we are pleased with how the guidelines and protocols worked,” Miskin said.

Read AG Shapiro's entire statement below: 

Each day frontline workers put themselves in harm's way to provide essential services and their safety depends on strong protections, the availability and use of PPE, and a common decency and transparency from their fellow workers, management and clientele. It is disappointing to hear allegations that this standard was not met in the state House.

We have received requests to conduct a criminal investigation by several members of the state House. While I understand their frustration and concern, a criminal investigation is not warranted based on our initial review. Capitol staff and state House members with concerns about COVID-19 contact tracing and exposure should contact the independent Chief Clerk of the state House and continue to follow the guidance of the Secretary of Health.

It is critical that public officials lead by example and demonstrate common decency during this crisis by following public health guidelines and being transparent with their colleagues and the Department of Health. Failure to act with this decency puts others at risk and extends the period of time we must fight this pandemic.

Neil Strebig is a journalist for the York Daily Record and curator for the York on the Move newsletter. He can be reached at nstrebig@ydr.com, 717-825-6582 or via Twitter @neilStrebig. 

Beaver County Times reporter J.D. Prose contributed to this report. 

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