Video: U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tested positive for COVID-19 and will quarantine, an aide announced on April 7, 2022. (Xinhua)
Anthony Fauci, a top U.S. infectious disease expert, said on April 6, 2022 that he expects the BA.2 subvariant to fuel an increase in COVID-19 cases across the United States.
WASHINGTON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A growing number of U.S. lawmakers and government officials have caught COVID-19 recently.
U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock announced that he was positive for COVID-19 after a routine test on Thursday afternoon.
"I'm so thankful to be both vaccinated & boosted, and at the advice of the Attending Physician I plan to isolate," the Georgia Democrat tweeted.
The announcement came shortly after the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court.
Warnock was not wearing a mask in photos that show him speaking with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who was presiding over the voting from the Senate floor.
U.S. Senator Susan Collins also tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday afternoon. The Maine Republican is experiencing mild symptoms and will isolate and work remotely following the diagnosis.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks during her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., the United States, on May 13, 2021. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)
Earlier in the day, a spokesperson for U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she had received a positive test result for the coronavirus. The California Democrat, who's fully vaccinated and boosted, is currently asymptomatic, according to the spokesperson.
Pelosi stood next to U.S. President Joe Biden at a bill signing event at the White House on Wednesday. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday that Biden tested negative on Wednesday.
"We have incredibly stringent protocols here at the White House that we keep in place to keep the president safe, to keep everybody safe," Psaki said during the daily press briefing. "Every member of the staff is on a regular testing protocol."
"If you're going to see him in person, whether you're traveling with him or you're meeting in the Oval Office, you will be tested. We try to do socially distanced meetings when necessary," she detailed.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines close contact as someone who is less than 6 feet (1.8 meters) away from an infected individual for more than 15 minutes.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (C) arrives for a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., the United States, April 22, 2021. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. Both the Cabinet officials and Pelosi reportedly went to the Gridiron Club and Foundation dinner over the past weekend.
U.S. Congressmen Adam Schiff and Joaquin Castro -- two other attendees of the white-tie event -- made public their infections on Tuesday.
Politico reported Wednesday that several journalists who attended the Gridiron dinner also had tested positive.
Biden's younger sister, Valerie Biden Owens, also tested positive Wednesday. An adviser to the president, she was not in close contact with the president or the first lady prior to her positive test.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has exceeded 80 million, with 984,000 related deaths, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.
Anthony Fauci, a top U.S. infectious disease expert, said on Wednesday that he expects the BA.2 subvariant to fuel an increase in COVID-19 cases across the United States.
"I would not be surprised if we see an uptick in cases," Fauci, also the longtime director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the White House medical adviser, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television.
The best way to avoid it "is to get more people vaccinated," he recommended. "If you're vaccinated, make sure you get boosted when your time comes." ■
