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Assistant to President Nancy Pelosi tested positive for the coronavirus after coming into contact last week with a group of Texas lawmakers visiting Washington, some of whom later tested positive for the virus.
Drew Hammill, spokesperson for Ms Pelosi, said on Tuesday that a member of her staff, a senior spokesperson who had been “fully vaccinated”, tested positive on Monday. He said the assistant had not had any contact with the speaker since his exposure to the virus.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said that a fully vaccinated White House official had also tested positive for the virus “off campus”, was experiencing ” mild symptoms “and stayed away from the complex while awaiting a test to confirm the diagnosis.
She declined to disclose whether the help had been with Texas lawmakers, who all say they were also fully vaccinated, who made a high-profile trip to Washington in an attempt to block passage of a restrictive electoral law. Axios reported that Pelosi’s assistant and the White House aide had contact with the Texans.
“We know there will be decisive cases,” Psaki said, adding that there had been previous cases in the White House that had not been disclosed. “This is another reminder of the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines against serious illness or hospitalizations.”
She said the aide had no close contact with Mr. Biden or senior White House officials.
Covid vaccines used in the United States have been shown to be effective in reducing the risk of severe symptoms or hospitalization, but infections in fully vaccinated individuals, known as breakthrough infections, are not unheard of. It is not yet clear whether the highly transmissible Delta variant circulating across the country increases the likelihood of major infections.
Following the positive test, Mr Hammill said Ms Pelosi’s press office was working remotely, with the exception of assistants who had tested negative or had not come into contact with the infected spokesperson.
News of the infections has rocked some in Capitol Hill, where lawmakers and professional staff have been headed for more normal operations for months now. Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland and Majority Leader, said the increase in coronavirus cases across the country could force the House to reconsider its easing of mask requirements and other measures of the pandemic era as the use of proxy voting.
“We are going to have to decide, given the recovery in each state, whether or not prudence demands that we return to wearing masks,” Hoyer told reporters on Tuesday.
Shortly after, Dr. Brian P. Monahan, the Capitol doctor, released new guidelines indicating that the increase in cases may necessitate the return of universal masking, although he does not recommend it at this time. He said that “several” congressmen had experienced groundbreaking infections and urged those vaccinated seeking to “further reduce their risk of disease” or transmission to voluntarily put on a mask.
“Individuals have the discretion to wear a mask and future developments in the local threat of the Delta coronavirus variant may necessitate the resumption of mask wearing for all, as is currently seen in several counties in the United States,” he wrote.
Members of the Texas legislature left the state last week for Washington in the latest effort to prevent the passage of a new restrictive voting law by the Republican-controlled legislature. Photographs showed them without masks on a trip to Washington. Since, six travel lawmakers have tested positive for the coronavirus.
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