The Vice President of the United States has tested positive for COVID-19.
Kamala Harris is not exhibiting symptoms, according to a statement from her press secretary, Kristen Allen. Harris has been fully vaccinated and has received two booster shots of the coronavirus vaccine.
“She has exhibited no symptoms, will isolate and continue to work from the vice president’s residence,” Allen said on April 25. “She will follow CDC guidelines and the advice of her physicians.”
The 57-year-old will not return to the White House until she has tested negative for the virus. Harris will isolate herself in her residence and work remotely. She traveled to California over the weekend and returned to Washington D.C. on April 24.
“The vice president’s positive test comes several weeks after COVID-19 spread among top officials in Washington, following the Gridiron Dinner, an annual event attended by hundreds of lawmakers, media members and business leaders,” reports USA Today.
While the vice president was not at the event, her communications director Jama Simmons was present and tested positive for COVID-19 in the subsequent days after having close contact with Harris.
Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, tested positive for the virus in March as did White House press secretary Jen Psaki and White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
The White House reports that Harris has not been in close contact with President Joe Biden or his wife, First Lady Jill Biden.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month. She told People Magazine she never experienced any symptoms and said of her time in quarantine, “All I did was stay home and raise money for the Democrats.”
