A day after appearing unmasked at a White House event with President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tested positive for COVID-19.
Pelosi had a positive COVID-19 test result and is now asymptomatic, according to her spokesperson Drew Hammill, who tweeted on Thursday. She had tested negative earlier in the week, he claimed.
“The Speaker has been completely vaccinated and boosted, and he is grateful for the vaccine’s strong protection,” Hammill added. Pelosi would “quarantine in accordance with CDC advice” and “encourages everyone to be vaccinated, boosted, and test frequently,” he added.
Biden and Pelosi had just “short encounters over the previous two days,” according to the White House, and the president was not deemed a close contact of the speaker under CDC guidelines, which require persistent unmasked contact within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes over a 24-hour period.
“The President tested negative last night as part of his regular testing cycle,” the White House stated in a statement. “He will be checked on a regular basis.” “The President wishes Speaker Pelosi the best of luck in her recovery.”
The 82-year-old Democratic leader’s declaration came only hours before her scheduled weekly press conference on Capitol Hill was canceled. The House of Representatives is about to begin a two-week spring break.
Pelosi also canceled a trip to Asia with a congressional group she was supposed to lead.
As limits have been relaxed and more events and gatherings are taking place around Washington, D.C., there has been a surge in new COVID-19 cases.
Attorney General Merrick Garland and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo both declared encouraging results on Wednesday. The officials were among more than a dozen people who tested positive for the virus during the Gridiron Club dinner on Saturday night. According to Pelosi’s spokeswoman, she did not attend the dinner.
Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, D.C., likewise said on Thursday that she had tested positive for COVID-19 and will “work from home while adhering to isolation guidelines.”
Several legislators have revealed positive test results and are attempting to isolate themselves.
For the first time since the outbreak of the epidemic two years ago, the Capitol reopened to select public visits last week.
