Detroit City Wire

It's about time that Republican leaders in Michigan's state Legislature - the same lawmakers  who've been resisting a mask mandate and calls for remote voting - admitted last week that dozens legislators and staffers had caught the COVID, a House Democrat said in a Twitter post.

"Nine months into this pandemic, and we're finally getting this public information," state Rep. Darrin Camilleri (D-Brownstown Township) said in his Twitter post shortly after the House GOP's disclosure about what is known about COVID-19 among lawmakers and staffers.

“Incredibly sad that it’s taken pressure from the media to make this happen," Camilleri continued in his Twitter post. "Our workplace should take stronger steps to keep us safe so we can address our state’s problems.”  

Michigan State Rep. Isaac Robinson (D-Detroit), second from left, with Rep. Joe Tate (D-Detroit), left, at Robinson's swearing-in ceremony in January of last year. Robinson died of COVID-19 in late March | facebook.com/tateformichigan

On Wednesday, Dec. 9, House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R-Levering) released, for the first time, widely reported cumulative total numbers of lawmakers and staffers who "either informed the House of a positive COVID diagnosis or are otherwise known to have had the illness.”

Chatfield said that 12 state lawmakers and 37 staffers fit that category.

Chatfield and other Republican lawmakers had been stubbornly resisting requests by multiple news outlets to release the COVID numbers in the state legislature.

Michigan State Rep. Isaac Robinson (D-Detroit) died of COVID-19 in late March, a little more than a year after he was sworn in to serve what turned out to be his first term in office.

Rep. Mark Huizenga (R-Walker) confirmed last week that he positive for COVID-19 antibodies, which means he has had the virus and was contagious at the time, but told Bridge Michigan that he was asymptomatic.

Last month, Huizenga urged residents in greater Grand Rapids and across Michigan "to do what they can to slow the spread."

"I understand this is a very polarizing time in our nation’s history given," Huizenga said in a statement issued Nov. 18. "People are hesitant to trust what they hear. But opting to discard the advice of the medical professionals who are working tirelessly to combat this virus isn't the answer."