U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has been exposed to a staffer who tested positive for COVID-19.
Harris, 57, was with a staffer “throughout the day Tuesday” who tested positive for the coronavirus the following morning, the White House confirmed Wednesday via a briefing room statement.
“Yesterday, Monday, and every day last week, this staff member tested negative for COVID-19,” the statement read. “This staff member is fully vaccinated and boosted and did not experience symptoms.”
The brief went on to say that Harris received a routine antigen test on Wednesday morning, and in light of the staffer’s test result, also a PCR test, both of which were found to be negative.
“She will be tested again on Friday then again on Monday per CDC guidance,” the release read.
“As CDC guidance does not require fully vaccinated people to quarantine after an exposure, the Vice President will continue with her daily schedule,” the White House also noted.
The statement concluded by saying that Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff will depart for her hometown of Los Angeles on Wednesday evening, where they “will remain through the New Year.”
Also on Wednesday, Harris appeared on her own Twitter in a videotaped statement wearing a mask, to speak about the three-month extension to the moratorium on student loan repayments.
The VP’s COVID exposure follows just days after President Biden was also exposed to the virus when he spent some 30 minutes with a mid-level staffer on Friday who went on to test positive on Monday.
Press secretary Jen Psaki said at the time that the president — who is “tested regularly” — received a negative PCR test on Monday. He was to be tested again on Wednesday.
Additionally, it was reported this week that Harris’ niece Meena Harris has also tested positive for COVID-19 with a breakthrough case.
“I have COVID,” Meena, 37, began in a tweet on Tuesday. “Based on what I know, after testing negative several times last week, either I infected my friend or she infected me. So far her symptoms are 10x worse than mine. I’m boosted. She’s not. Get the booster, people.”
The news comes as the omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to sweep the nation and the world, accounting for a majority of reported cases in the United States last week.
According to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 73.2 percent of coronavirus cases reported between Dec. 12 to Dec. 18 were omicron. Another 26.6 percent of cases were the delta variant.
