GOP Sen. Mike Lee speaks without mask at Barrett hearing despite positive COVID-19 test

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on Monday was in attendance for Judge Amy Coney Barrett's Senate confirmation hearing ten days after announcing he had tested positive for COVID-19.

Lee, one of a number of people in President Trump's orbit who recently tested positive for the coronavirus, was seen at the Senate's first day of confirmation hearings for Barrett on Monday, NBC News reported. The senator announced his coronavirus diagnosis on Oct. 2, at the time saying he had started to experience symptoms a day earlier. He said he would "remain isolated for the next 10 days" but vowed to return in time for the Barrett hearings.

Lee, NBC News reports, said in an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Monday that he had "gotten the sign-off from the Office of the Attending Physician" and that he's "no longer contagious," but it's not clear whether he has tested negative for COVID-19. When asked if he was tested on Monday, Lee did not respond, The Daily Beast reports. Some senators are participating in Monday's hearing remotely, The Hill reports.

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Lee was in attendance for the Sept. 26 Rose Garden event announcing Barrett's Supreme Court nomination, numerous attendees of which later tested positive for the coronavirus. NBC News' Kasie Hunt noted that "we don't know" whether Lee is negative for COVID-19, as "Republicans are not allowing those [coronavirus] tests to happen ahead of the hearing." Although Lee was seen wearing a mask on Monday, he did not wear one during his opening statement. Brendan Morrow