California congresswoman Michelle Steel tests positive for COVID-19
FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2020, file photo, Orange County Supervisor Michelle Steel participates in a news conference in Santa Ana, Calif. Steel has tested positive for the coronavirus, her office announced Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. (Photo by Paul Berseb (Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES - California Rep. Michelle Steel has tested positive for coronavirus, her office announced Wednesday.
The newly elected Orange County, California, Republican said in a statement that she learned had been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Steel, 65, said he had no symptoms but had a test out of an abundance of caution. It came back positive for the virus.
She said she will quarantine, at the advice of her doctor and to protect the health of her colleagues in the House.
Steel — who previously headed the Orange County Board of Supervisors — defeated Democratic Rep. Harley Rouda in November.
Last spring Steel questioned the need for a countywide mask mandate. But she later changed course and endorsed face coverings in public.
In November, Steel joined Washington state’s Marilyn Strickland and California Rep. Young Kim as the first Korean American women elected to Congress.
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