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Vice President Harris tested positive for coronavirus, the White House said Tuesday, becoming the top official in the Biden administration, infected with a virus that has killed millions of Americans.
Harris tested positive in both rapid and PCR tests, but showed no symptoms, said Harris spokeswoman Kirsten Allen.
The vice president is not considered close contact with President Biden or First Lady Jill Biden due to their respective recent travel schedules. Harris will be isolated and continue to work from her residence, returning to the White House when her test is negative, Allen said.
Harris, 57, is fully vaccinated and reinforced and, as vice president, has access to some of the best medical care in the world. However, she is in a vulnerable demographic group, which the Food and Drug Administration made eligible for a second booster injection in March.
At the very least, the diagnosis will force one of the nation’s most popular politicians – the first woman to make history and the first black and Asian man to serve as second commander – to cut short his public schedule as the administration fights competition. crises. One of them is the ongoing pandemic: the nation is approaching 1 million deaths from the virus.
On April 26, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the current coronavirus protocol went beyond the CDC guidelines. (Video: The Washington Post)
Two Democratic senators, Chris Murphy (Connecticut) and Ron Wyden (Oregon), also tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday. With Harris, the Senate Democrat’s decisive vote in isolation, as long as her test is not negative, any controversial Senate votes are likely to be postponed. However, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.) told reporters on Tuesday that efforts to confirm several of President Biden’s nominees would continue this week.
“We have had some attendance problems that have just arisen in the last few hours, but we will continue to push for confirmation of the presidential nominees,” Schumer said. “These health problems will not stop us from doing this.”
Several other senior officials have contracted the virus, even as the White House says it has tightened protections for those working on campus – especially the president, vice president and their husbands. Harris’s husband, the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, tested positive for coronavirus in March, and the vice president was named for “close contact” after an aide contracted the virus, although she did not become ill in either case.
Vice President Harris encouraged others to make a booster to protect themselves from the coronavirus “when you meet the conditions” after receiving it on October 29. (Video: The Washington Post)
The virus has been invading the White House for some time. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki had to retire from Biden’s big trip to Europe because of a positive test. After taking his place, reserve spokesman Carin Jean-Pierre also contracted the coronavirus. Several cabinet officials have also been diagnosed with the virus in recent weeks.
Asked on Tuesday if it was only a matter of time before Biden tested positive, White House coronavirus coordinator Ashish Ja said it was not what he would say.
“Of course, it is possible that the president, like any other American, will receive a covid,” Ja told reporters during his first appearance at a White House briefing. “The conclusion is that he has been vaccinated and strengthened, he is very well protected, he has very good protocols around him to protect him from infection. But there is 100 percent nothing. “
Biden was last tested for coronavirus on Monday and tested negative, Psaki said. Biden checked in with Harris on Tuesday afternoon over the phone to make sure he had everything he needed while isolated at home, according to the White House.
Harris was in the West Coast last week, with stops in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and returned to Washington on Monday. The White House did not immediately reveal details about who would be considered close contacts with the vice president during that time. Harris was scheduled to join Biden on Tuesday morning for the president’s daily report, and was scheduled to attend the funeral of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Wednesday with the president. But Harris did not attend any events or meetings at the White House on Tuesday, and the last time she saw Biden in person was on April 18, according to her office.
The United States is now in a liquid and potentially transitional phase of the pandemic, marked by infections that are more common but less severe, at least for those that have been vaccinated and intensified. Biden received his second booster in late March, and Harris received his second booster on April 1.
Scientists warn that new options are still emerging and may continue to emerge for some time, leaving the future of the pandemic unpredictable. At the same time, a growing number of Americans are signaling that they are eager to leave the pandemic behind and return to normal life without restrictions.
Of course, the vice president’s illness has wider consequences. He highlighted the spread of the pandemic, which has swept the world over the past two years, affecting all of the world’s leaders – both British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump – infected with covid-19 – to athletes and artists.
Matt Wiser contributed to this report.
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