MADISON, Wis. – Fellow legislators have called State Senator Andrew Jacque reckless for not informing them that he had been exposed to the Covid virus.  “I can tell you, I was pissed,” said Senator Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, who was. at a joint Senate-House hearing at which Jacque testified maskless after being exposed to the virus. Jacque, R-DePere, has since been hospitalized in serious condition with the virus. According to report in the Daily Beast, other legislator also are furious. Some legislators, however, have called the criticism inappropriate considering Jacque’s dire condition. Jacque is “serious need of your prayers,” said State Representative Shae Sortwell, R-Two Rivers. Before his condition worsened in the hospital, Jacque himself had acknowledged exposure to the virus probably through family mem ber, that he had tested for the virus, -and was awaiting results. Jacque, who is clinically obese, said he was fatigued at the seven-hour Madison hearing but such was not unusual for him. About Republicans who later defensed Jacque’s presence at the hearing and who notifying everyone else, Larson said: “The Republicans are still following the pied piper in pretending that this is nothing, and that nobody should have to take any precautions.” State Senator LaTonya Johnson, a Democrat, said she learned only through scuttlebutt that she may have been exposed by Jacque. Before he condition deteriorated, Jacque  said had had “personally reached out to the limited number of close contacts in case I was positive.” However, the committee chairs Senator Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and Representative Jeremy, Thiesfeldt, R-Fond du Lac, didn’t spread the word. Larson faulted the chairs for “shrugging it off.”

Jacque. Says his exposure may have been through family. He is the father of six with a new baby. Says he had tested but didn’t know at legislative hearing in Madison whether he was carrying the virus.

Nuanced view

Jacque had declined questions for weeks about whether he was vaccinated against the Covid virus. He said he was not opposed to vaccinations in general, just government-required inoculations and masking. It’s a common refrain among Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature.

Wisconsin scourge

Covid has claimed the lives of 8,324 Wisconsinites. The number of cases and hospitalizations has spiked for the first time since vaccines became available. So far in August the state has had 10 times more new cases than a month earlier, and six times as many hospitalizations. On Monday, the state’s seven-day average of positive cases hit its highest level since February, with 660 people hospitalized.