Speaker Nancy Pelosi tests positive for COVID-19 as outbreak spreads among government officials in DC
President Joe Biden’s sister became the latest Washington figures to test positive for COVID-19, announcements that came Thursday after two cabinet officials and others tested positive the day before.
Pelosi, who is asymptomatic, tested positive on Thursday. She will quarantine, her spokesman announced.
“The speaker is fully vaccinated and boosted, and is thankful for the robust protection the vaccine has provided,” said spokesman Drew Hammill.
Pelosi attended crowded events at the White House Tuesday and Wednesday at which Biden spoke.
The White House said Biden’s interactions with Pelosi do not meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s definition of being in close contact.
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Biden tests negative
Biden was last tested Wednesday, as part of his regular testing regime of a couple times a week, and tested negative, according to the White House.
His doctor does not believe it’s necessary for Biden to test daily, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday.
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On Wednesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said they had tested positive, as did Vice President Kamala Harris’ communications director Jamal Simmons.
All three had attended the annual Gridiron Dinner Saturday night, which attracts a wide swath of government officials and journalists. Some lawmakers and reporters who were at the dinner have also tested positive.
Pelosi was not at the dinner but her spokesman, Hammill, was.
Biden did not attend the dinner but spoke Wednesday at an event in a hotel ballroom packed with more than 2,000 union leaders and members, most of whom were not wearing masks.
He also held a crowded health care event at the White House on Tuesday and hosted lawmakers and others for a bill signing Wednesday.
Biden, 79, has been vaccinated, and he received his first booster shot in September and a second at the end of March.
In addition, the White House had gone beyond CDC’s recommended protocols to protect Biden from the virus. Anyone who meets with the president or is traveling with him is tested first. When possible, Biden is also kept socially distanced from others, according to Psaki.
“We are living with COVID-19,” Psaki said Wednesday. “We are continuing to fight it.”
More:AG Garland, Commerce Sec Gina Raimondo latest attendees of Washington dinner to test positive for COVID