Congressional leaders making plans in case coronavirus threatens Capitol Hill

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Dr. Marc Lipsitch, infectious disease epidemiologist at Harvard University, predicts that the coronavirus will ultimately not be containable.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., invited her fellow congressional leaders to participate in a briefing  with Capitol Hill officer to discuss a plan for congressional operations should the coronavirus threaten Washington, D.C., Fox News has learned.

Pelosi wants Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to meet on Capitol Hill to figure out "preparedness and keeping the Congress open for the People’s business,” a Democratic aide told Fox News.

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There have previously been conversations among congressional staff about potentially mandating that only “essential staff” have to work and what that would mean in a move similar to what occurs during a government shutdown or major meteorological event.

“Their offices will want to try to figure out if there is consensus among the leaders and what their positions are if things go south,” a person close to the matter who asked that they not be identified told Fox News. “Everyone will need to operate under the same construct.”

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The source added that health officials have warned key congressional figures that “this thing is going to spread” and that “there are going to be some casualties.” Officials also want to double the number of hand sanitizers located in congressional hallways as the House supply store was already out of big bottles of hand sanitizer.

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The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 prompted the House and Senate to close its public galleries for nearly a month. The House actually did little work during that period as so many members were absent and the body lacked quorums to conduct day-to-day legislative business.