WASHINGTON — Some senators now say they’d like lawmakers to be tested for the coronavirus, just days after congressional leaders declined an offer of 1,000 tests from the Trump White House.

Without testing, “We’re disease vectors,” Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said Wednesday, adding that Washington is a hot spot for the infection.

The remarks by King and others underscore the pressures facing lawmakers as the U.S. remains seriously short of the amount of testing that experts consider necessary. Many members of Congress face higher risks because they’re older and travel often, but they’re also loathe to be seen as getting special access to a scarce resource.

“It’s totally responsible to have tests, not just to protect us but to protect all the other people that are involved in that travel,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. He said lawmakers and congressional staff should be tested, but without “taking resources away from other people.”

On Tuesday, Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate health committee, said that with more testing becoming available, he expected “attitudes to change quickly” about the decision to rebuff the White House offer of tests.

One senator and seven House members have reported testing positive for the disease. At least 19 congressional employees, including eight Capitol Police officers, have also tested positive, according to a letter last week by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. The virus is continuing to spread across the country, with more than 1.2 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease the virus causes, and more than 72,000 deaths.