Mask rule implemented on Capitol Hill after lawmaker gets COVID-19

WASHINGTON, D.C. – (NBC News) Masks are now mandatory on Capitol Hill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Wednesday that masks will be required in House offices and the chamber where lawmakers vote.

The change was made after Texas Republican Louis Gohmert, often seen without a mask, announced on Twitter that he tested positive for coronavirus.

Gohmert had participated in two hearings the previous day without a mask.

Meanwhile, a new federal report shows 21 states in the “red zone” with cases rising.

Florida and California have reported new records for deaths in one day, and the nation just hit its highest daily death toll since May.