Harris tests positive for COVID-19

Vice President Harris on Tuesday tested positive for COVID-19, her office announced, becoming the latest high-profile political figure to contract the virus in recent weeks.

Harris took both rapid and PCR tests, which came back positive, her office said. She “has not been a close contact” of President Biden or first lady Jill Biden, the vice president’s office said, citing their travel schedules.

“She has exhibited no symptoms, will isolate and continue to work from the Vice President’s residence,” Harris spokeswoman Kirsten Allen said in a statement.

“She will follow CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines and the advice of her physicians. The Vice President will return to the White House when she tests negative,” Allen added.

Harris, who is fully vaccinated and boosted, tested positive for COVID-19 weeks after a number of leading congressional Democrats and Biden administration officials also contracted the virus.

Harris had been slated on Tuesday morning to receive the President’s Daily Briefing alongside Biden, and it’s unclear if that meeting took place. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on when Biden’s last COVID-19 test was, but the president typically is tested regularly.

Harris traveled to California last week, first to Los Angeles for a Democratic National Committee fundraiser and then to San Francisco and back to Los Angeles. She returned from Los Angeles on Monday.

Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, became the first member of the first and second couples to contract COVID-19. He tested positive on March 15, which lead to a flurry of questions over Harris’s contact and if she should be wearing a mask around the president and others. She continued to test negative during Emhoff’s stint with the coronavirus.

Two Democratic senators also tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday: Chris Murphy (Conn.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.).

Earlier this month, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had the coronavirus, as did Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The White House recently first acknowledged that Biden could get COVID-19 amid the uptick in positive cases surrounding the president earlier this month.

Officials stress that he is vaccinated, and White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week last week that it wouldn’t be a failure of the precautions in place to protect Biden if he were to get the virus.

Updated at 12:52 p.m.

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