The House and Senate sergeants-at-arms are suspending tours of the Capitol building in D.C. in response to the spread of the coronavirus.
The official announcement is expected sometime Wednesday, according to the Hill. The suspension would go into effect as soon as Friday and last until the end of March.
“The two sergeant-at-arms … are preparing to announce that they will stop tours of the Capitol due to the coronavirus,” one source told the Hill.
Earlier in the day, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, called for the U.S. Capitol to be closed to visitors. Feinstein, at 86 years old, is the oldest member of the upper chamber.
“I’m worried about the fact that we need to close this place down,” Feinstein said. “I really believe that now. Look at us, how close. It’s just an example of what’s happened. The cases have topped 1,000 and here’s where they’re going.”
So far, leadership has resisted closing down the Capitol completely or changing the congressional schedule.
The World Health Organization declared on Wednesday that COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, a global pandemic. Across the world, there are more than 120,000 confirmed cases and roughly 4,600 deaths from the disease.
In the United States, more than 1,100 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, and 32 patients have died. President Trump is scheduled to address the nation from the Oval Office about the pandemic at 9 p.m. EDT.
“This is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear.”
