US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tests positive for Covid, was at White House with Biden

President Biden tested negative for coronavirus on Wednesday night

Photo: AFP

By AFP

Published: Thu 7 Apr 2022, 9:08 PM

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, has tested positive for Covid, her spokesman said Thursday, making her the latest Washington power player to catch the virus.

The 82-year-old lawmaker from California, who is second in line to the presidency after Vice President Kamala Harris, is vaccinated and boosted and is currently asymptomatic, her spokesman Drew Hammill said on Twitter.

Pelosi is the latest high-profile Covid case in the US capital.

Among those reporting a positive test on Thursday was Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, 49.

At least two members of Biden’s cabinet — Attorney General Merrick Garland, 69, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, 50 — and several lawmakers tested positive for the coronavirus this week after attending a gala dinner in Washington last weekend.

About half a dozen journalists and members of the White House staff who attended the dinner have also tested positive, according to press reports, along with Jamal Simmons, the communications director for Harris, the vice president.

Pelosi did not attend the annual Gridiron Club dinner, which brings together top politicians, media figures, members of the diplomatic corps and business leaders for a night of comedy.

But the House speaker was at a bill signing event at the White House on Wednesday with President Joe Biden and another event there on Tuesday with former president Barack Obama.

Most of the attendees at the White House events were maskless.

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The 79-year-old Biden, who did not attend the Gridiron dinner, is regularly tested for Covid and had a negative test on Monday, a week after getting his second Covid booster, according to the White House.

Pelosi’s spokesman tweeted that “the Speaker is fully vaccinated and boosted, and is thankful for the robust protection the vaccine has provided.”

Pelosi cancelled a press conference planned for Thursday and her spokesman said a congressional visit to Asia she intended to lead has been postponed to a later date.

Pelosi will quarantine in line with the guidance of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, her spokesman said.