Vice President Kamala Harris tests positive for Covid, is not exhibiting symptoms

US Vice President Kamala Harris addresses a multilateral meeting with the Estonian Prime Minister, the Latvian President and the Lithuanian President during the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, southern Germany, on February 18, 2022.

The office of the Vice President said that she didn't have any symptoms and hadn't been in close contact with the president or first lady.

Harris will work from the Vice President's residence, her press secretary said in a statement.

The highest-ranking official in the Biden administration to contract Covid is Harris, who is the first in the presidential line of succession. Even though he came into close proximity with many government officials who tested positive for the virus, President Joe Biden has so far avoided it.

Due to their respective travel schedules, Harris is not considered a close contact to Biden or the first lady.

The vice president got her second booster shot earlier this month.

Harris will return to the White House when she tests negative for Covid, according to her office.

There has been an increase in Covid cases in the U.S. in recent weeks, which may be related to a new omicron subvariant BA.2. The upward trend has led some officials to keep some social distancing measures in place.

Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Ron Wyden of Oregon both tested positive for Covid and were feeling unwell.

The test results raised the question of whether Senate Democrats will have enough votes to confirm some nominees this week.

The Senate has a tie-breaking vote because of the fact that the Republicans and the senators who caucus with the Democrats are split. She has used that power 17 times, the most of any vice president since 1868.

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