Labor Secretary Martin J. Walsh is the latest member of President Biden’s cabinet to be infected with the coronavirus.
Mr. Walsh said Tuesday on Twitter that he had tested positive that day, and added that he was experiencing only mild symptoms. “I’m grateful to be both vaccinated and boosted,” he wrote.
He said he was isolating himself and following guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “I look forward to a quick recovery,” he wrote.
Mr. Biden was not considered a close contact with Mr. Walsh under C.D.C. guidelines, a White House spokesman said Wednesday.
A person is considered a close contact when they have been less than six feet away from an infected person for a total of at least 15 minutes over a 24-hour period, according to the C.D.C.
Mr. Walsh had not been around Mr. Biden in the past week, a Labor Department spokeswoman said Wednesday. It was not clear whether Mr. Walsh, 55, had gotten a second booster dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
Several people in Mr. Biden’s inner circle have tested positive for the virus in the past month, including Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, and Susan Rice, the White House domestic policy adviser. Mr. Biden’s daughter, Ashley Biden, also became infected in mid-May.
Source: NY Times
