CDC director Rochelle Walensky tests positive for COVID-19

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing “mild symptoms,” the agency said in a statement Saturday.

Walensky, who is up-to-date with her vaccines, tested positive on Friday night, the agency said. “Consistent with CDC guidelines, she is isolating at home and will participate in her planned meetings virtually,” the statement said.

The agency added that “CDC senior staff and close contacts have been informed of her positive test and are taking appropriate action to monitor their health.”

Walensky, the former chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, started as the CDC’s 19th director in January 2021.

She’s at least the third high-ranking health official to test positive for COVID-19 in the last four months.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, President Joe Biden’s top Cabinet health official, tested positive on June 13. Two days later, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said that he also tested positive for the virus.

Saturday’s announcement comes a month after Walensky shared on social media a photo of herself receiving the updated version of the COVID-19 vaccine.