WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, becoming the highest-ranking Washington official to be infected, raising new concerns about President Biden’s possible exposure as the virus rips through his administration.
The vice president’s office said she tested positive on both rapid and PCR tests and will stay away from the White House until she tests negative, instead working from the vice president’s official residence on the Naval campus. observatory.
“She has not shown any symptoms, will isolate herself and continue to work from the vice president’s residence,” said Kirsten Allen, the vice president’s spokeswoman. “She has not been in close contact with the president or first lady because of their respective recent travel schedules.”
Ms. Harris, 57, is the latest in a string of Washington officials to have recently contracted the virus, now including, with Chair Nancy Pelosi, the two best successors to the presidency. Her infection renews concerns for Mr Biden, who at 79 is the oldest person ever to be sworn in as president and in an age group typically considered more vulnerable to the virus. While the vice president’s office emphasized that she hadn’t been in close contact with Mr. Biden lately, her infection boosts the potential for his exposure, as people who work with him regularly test positive.
The wave of infections in the upper reaches of Washington comes amid the spread of the highly contagious Omicron subvariant known as BA.2 and serves as a reminder that the pandemic will continue even as officials try to turn away from restrictions. Ms. Pelosi and two cabinet members, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, all tested positive this month.
Mr. Garland and Ms. Raimondo were among several officials who tested positive and who recently attended the Gridiron Club dinner, a night out where journalists, government officials and lawmakers mingle.
Mrs. Harris was not at the dinner, but her communications director, Jamal Simmons, was and tested positive afterwards.
At the time, Ms. Allen, Ms. Harris’s press secretary, said in a statement that the vice president would continue her public schedule but would follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for those who have been in close contact with someone infected. The guidelines recommend wearing a mask for 10 days after exposure and testing regularly.
The White House has repeatedly emphasized that it is enforcing stricter measures than the CDC recommends.
Mrs Harris got her second booster shot on April 1, three days after federal regulators approved a second dose of the vaccine for people over the age of 50. It takes about a week to boost the immune system after an injection.
Doug Emhoff, Mrs. Harris’s husband, tested positive for the virus in mid-March. At that point, Ms. Harris was forced to withdraw from an event with the president, although she continued to test negative.