Pelosi, Senators, DC Mayor Test Positive For Covid
Another day, another wave of government officials announcing new covid infections: Joining the growing list Thursday were House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, and Sens. Susan Collins and Raphael Warnock. The White House says that President Joe Biden has not yet had close contact with anyone who has tested positive.
AP:
Pelosi Positive For COVID-19, Was At White House With Biden
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tested positive for COVID-19, a day after appearing unmasked at a White House event with President Joe Biden. Pelosi, D-Calif., received a positive test result for COVID-19 and is currently asymptomatic, her spokesman Drew Hammill said Thursday in a tweet. He said she had tested negative earlier in the week. (Mascaro and Miller, 4/7)
The New York Times:
Nancy Pelosi And Other Lawmakers Test Positive For The Coronavirus
Lawmakers and their staffs on Capitol Hill were informed on March 30 that they were now allowed to receive a second booster dose if they met criteria, after federal health officials cleared them for many people the day before. Ms. Pelosi received her second booster last month, according to her office, and it takes about a week for the immune system to ramp up. It is difficult to know exactly how someone was exposed to and infected with the virus. (Cochrane, 4/8)
Politico:
Covid Creeps Ever Closer To Biden
Standing before a packed White House crowd this week, President Joe Biden cheerfully ticked off a series of his administration’s health care accomplishments. Among them, he said: Finally getting the coronavirus “under control.” Yet as Biden waded through the celebratory East Room, embracing and shaking hands with dozens of maskless lawmakers and advocates, the virus was quietly running rampant through the building. (Cancryn, 4/7)
The Hill:
White House Dismisses COVID-19 Risk For Biden
The White House on Thursday dismissed any concerns that President Biden is at risk of contracting COVID-19 after he spent time the day before with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who tested positive early Thursday. ... White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday the president was not considered a close contact of Pelosi’s as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) because they spent less than 15 minutes in close proximity to each other. (Gangitano, 4/7)
Also —
AP:
Sen. Susan Collins Of Maine Tests Positive For COVID-19
Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday just hours after voting to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, her office said. Collins’ office said the veteran senator, in office since 1997, tested positive late in the afternoon, a couple of hours after the historic vote. She wore a mask while on the Senate floor, her office said. (4/7)
The Hill:
Sen. Warnock, Democratic Congressman Test Positive For COVID-19
Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) announced Thursday that they had tested positive for COVID-19 in breakthrough cases. Warnock said in a tweet that he tested positive for COVID-19 that afternoon after a “routine test.” (Folmar, 4/7)
AP:
DC Mayor Tests Positive For COVID-19, Reports Mild Symptoms
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Thursday that she tested positive for COVID-19 and would “work at home while following isolation protocols.” ... Bowser, 49, was elected Mayor in 2014 and will be running for a third term later this year. Her older sister Mercia died of COVID-19 complications in February 2021 at the age of 64. (Khalil, 4/7)
Politico:
Covid In DC: What To Know About The Risks Of Omicron And BA.2
The speaker of the House is in quarantine. Cabinet secretaries are working from home. The Gridiron dinner was a superspreader event, and the West Wing is a hot spot. The surge of Covid-19 infections in Washington this week has many wondering: Is it safe enough to hold indoor, public events again? Are we returning to normal or throwing caution to the wind after more than two years of isolation? (Gardner, 4/8)
And more on the rabid fox captured near the Capitol building —
The Washington Post:
Fox Kits From U.S. Capitol Grounds Euthanized; Their Mother Had Rabies
Three fox kits found in a den on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol have been euthanized after their mother tested positive for rabies. Officials with the D.C. Department of Health said in a statement Thursday that the kits — as fox babies are called — were “recovered from the den site of the female fox” that was captured Tuesday. She was euthanized and tested positive for rabies. (Hedgpeth, 4/7)
