U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday announced that members and staff are required to wear masks in the House of Representatives during the coronavirus pandemic.

Members will be allowed to remove their masks to speak in the House when addressing the chamber, Pelosi said on the House floor.

"The chair expects all members and staff to adhere to this requirement as a sign of respect for the health, safety, and well-being of others present in the chamber and surrounding areas," Pelosi said on the House floor.

The move came after Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert, who steadfastly refused to wear a mask during the coronavirus pandemic, said on Wednesday he has tested positive for COVID-19, leading at least three of his colleagues to say they would self-quarantine.

Pelosi warned that she had the authority to ask the House Sergeant at Arms to remove a member from the floor for violating decorum, and "the chair views the failure to wear a mask as a serious breach of decorum."

She said masks will be available at entry points to the House for members who forget to bring them.

Pelosi said earlier Wednesday that leaders had been discussing a mask mandate with the Capitol physician.

Gohmert announced his diagnosis a day after attending a major hearing featuring testimony from Attorney General Bill Barr, with whom he was seen walking and chatting at a close distance while neither wore a mask.

The 66-year-old said he was asymptomatic and downplayed his diagnosis.

He has worn a mask sporadically in recent weeks, and suggested that moving it around on his face because it is uncomfortable "puts some germs in the mask" and maybe this caused his infection.

To wear or not wear a mask remains a political flashpoint in America. 

Gohmert was tested Wednesday at the White House because he was supposed to accompany Trump on a visit to Texas.

Gohmert said he has worn the mask more in the last week or two than in all of the past four months, and did so during Tuesday's hearing with Barr. But he took it off a few times and was seen walking and talking with Barr before the hearing.

"Wear a damn mask," said Democratic representative Jennifer Wexton from Virginia.

"I don't know who needs to hear this, but if you're a Member of Congress who refuses to wear a mask on Capitol Hill, you're not only putting your colleagues at risk – you're endangering the staff who works here, including many of my constituents," she said.

(With input from Reuters, AFP)