A growing number of high-ranking officials, lawmakers, aides, and journalists have tested positive for COVID-19 this week due to an outbreak of the omicron variant among the elite of Washington, DC.
In the past three days, there have been two congressmen. Several people reported positive COVID-19 tests. Two Cabinet members, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Attorney General Merrick Garland, have positive tests. The Washington Post reports that several staff members for the White House and National Security Council have tested positive.
On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's spokesperson announced that Pelosi, too, was infected. "After testing negative this week, Speaker Pelosi received a positive test result for COVID-19 and is currently asymptomatic. The Speaker is fully vaccinated and boosted and is thankful for the robust protection the vaccine has provided, " spokesperson Drew Hammill tweeted.Scores of DC-based political reporters have tested positive this week or have reported illnesses. PBS NewsHour's Lisa Desjardins is one of them. Many people who have tested positive this week attended the annual Gridiron Club dinner. A mostly maskless group of A-list lawmakers, government officials, journalists, and other inside-beltway elite attended the white-tie-and-gowns event. Guests weren't required to test negative prior to the event if they weren'tvaccinated.
After the cocktail reception, guests sat at narrow tables and watched satirical skits. Guests joined hands and sang "Auld Lang Syne" together at the end of the evening. Attorney General Garland and Harris were in attendance. Raimondo spoke at the event. The guest list was also included.
Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.); Reps. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.); Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and special presidential envoy John F. Kerry; Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell; Govs. Larry Hogan (R-Md.) and Chris Sununu (R-N.H.); and New York Mayor Eric Adams (D)... former NFL great Emmitt Smith; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver; CBS host Jane Pauley and her spouse, Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau; Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova; Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan, PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff; ABC chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl, and Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan and editor Sally Buzbee.
Anthony Fauci is an infectious disease expert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fauci told the Post that he took off his mask to eat at the reception.
AdvertisementPresident Biden did not go to the event in person. He appeared virtually.
Tom DeFrank, president of the Gridiron Club, told the Post that as of Wednesday afternoon, the group knew of 14 guests who had tested positive, seven of which were clustered at three tables. The group is notifying guests who were seated nearby.
Other political events have been linked to infections in recent days, such as a going-away party for National Security Council spokesman Emily Horne.
The rest of the country is trying to return to some semblance of normal while the cases in DC are very high. In a comment to the Post, Fauci said that we need to make a decision that is based on data as well as our own individual willingness to take whatever level of risk happens to be present.
More than two dozen states and the District of Columbia are seeing rising case numbers, despite the national tally of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations still declining. Some Northeastern states are seeing increases.
The rise of omicron subvariant BA.2 coincides with the increase of cases in the US. The initial version of omicron, BA.1, does not appear to cause more severe disease than the subvariant. There have been spikes in cases recently in Europe. Experts have suggested that the US may see a nationwide increase in cases from the subvariant, but it is not clear how large that increase will be.
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