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In Washington’s Covid-19 outbreak, new variants flout old ‘close contact’ rule

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  • In Washington’s Covid-19 outbreak, new variants flout old ‘close contact’ rule

    Source: https://abc17news.com/cnn-health/202...-contact-rule/


    Published April 8, 2022 2:33 PM
    In Washington’s Covid-19 outbreak, new variants flout old ‘close contact’ rule
    By Brenda Goodman, CNN

    Washington, DC is coping with a cluster of high-profile Covid-19 cases after a series of public events exposed high-level officials.

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sens. Susan Collins and Raphael Warnock, and Rep. Peter DeFazio have all this week announced that they tested positive.

    Health experts say the outbreak may be rooted, in part, in outdated and confusing guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that help people assess their risk of getting the virus that causes Covid-19 or passing it on to others.

    On Thursday, after announcing that she had been in close contact with someone who had tested positive for Covid-19, Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the Senate confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson without wearing a mask, though CDC guidelines advise masking around other people for at least 10 days after exposure to the virus.

    The same day, at a press event for World Health Day, Xavier Becerra, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, explained that he and World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysesus would both be wearing masks at the event — except while speaking — “because each of us has been close to someone who tested positive recently.”

    Health experts said Friday that Americans are relying on CDC guidance that’s overdue for an update...

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    • #3
      68 attendees of high profile D.C. dinner test positive for Covid
      ...
      April 10, 2022, 8:48 AM CST
      By Christina Zhao and Molly Roecker

      Sixty-eight attendees have tested positive for Covid-19 after attending the Gridiron Dinner in Washington last weekend, including members of the Biden administration and reporters.

      Gridiron Club President Tom DeFrank said Saturday that the group had reported 67 cases out of the hundreds of people who attended. On Sunday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was also at the dinner, tested positive. This is the first that the Gridiron Dinner has taken place since 2019, before the pandemic.

      Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who is fully vaccinated and boosted, tested positive for the virus on Friday and is experiencing mild symptoms, his office said in a statement on Saturday, adding to a fresh wave of cases that has swept through the nation's capital.

      Two other members of Biden's Cabinet, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, tested positive last week after attending the annual social gathering of high-profile political media and business figures.

      Garland attended a news conference with FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday, before he tested positive later that day. The Justice Department said it was conducting contact tracing in accordance with protocols set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

      Some lawmakers also tested positive after attending the white-tie event, including Reps. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

      So did Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine., who announced her positive test on Thursday after voting to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.

      Vice President Kamala Harris' communications director Jamal Simmons, first lady Jill Biden’s press secretary Michael LaRosa and Valerie Biden Owens, President Joe Biden’s sister were also among guests who later tested positive following the event.

      ...
      Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo were among the guests at the annual Gridiron Dinner.

      "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."
      -Nelson Mandela

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        • #5
          Fauci backs out of White House correspondents' dinner over Covid risk

          April 27, 2022, 6:57 AM CST / Updated April 27, 2022, 3:07 PM CST
          By Kristen Welker and Rebecca Shabad

          WASHINGTON — ...

          Fauci, 81, President Joe Biden's top Covid adviser and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told The New York Times on Tuesday that he decided not to go to the dinner "because of my individual assessment of my personal risk." ...

          Biden, 79, and first lady Jill Biden, 70, plan to attend the event at the Washington Hilton on Saturday, the first time the event has been held since 2019 because of the pandemic.
          ...
          A few thousand people have attended the dinner in previous years, held in a large ballroom at the Hilton hotel. Washington, D.C., lifted its mask mandate for many indoor public venues in February.
          ...
          A source familiar with the matter said Fauci made the decision not to attend the dinner before Harris tested positive for Covid.
          ...
          Some experts have questioned whether the dinner should even take place because of the increase in Covid cases. In early April, at least 72 people tested positive for the disease after attending the Gridiron Dinner in Washington.

          White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that while Biden will attend the event, he will not be there the meal portion and may wear a mask when he’s not giving remarks.
          "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."
          -Nelson Mandela

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            • #7
              CBS President and CEO George Cheeks tests positive for COVID-19

              BY VICTORIA ALBERT

              MAY 6, 2022 / 7:54 PM / CBS NEWS

              CBS President and CEO George Cheeks tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, the company confirmed Friday. Cheeks was seated next to President Biden at the White House Correspondents Association dinner last Saturday, but Mr. Biden has since tested negative for the virus.
              ...
              The association instituted multiple COVID protocols for the dinner, requiring attendees to be fully vaccinated and present a same-day negative antigen test. Nevertheless, multiple journalists who attended have since tested positive, as has Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
              ...

              Cheeks was seated next to President Biden at the White House Correspondents Association dinner last Saturday, but Mr. Biden has since tested negative for the virus.
              "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."
              -Nelson Mandela

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              • #8
                COVID-19 cases climb after White House media dinner

                BY PETER SULLIVAN - 05/08/22 5:36 AM ET

                COVID-19 cases among attendees at the White House correspondents’ dinner last weekend are mounting, highlighting the continued threat of the virus as cases rise nationally.

                High-profile cases following the dinner include ABC reporter Jonathan Karl, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and reporters from The Washington Post, Voice of America and other outlets.

                There is no exact count, and it is not clear which dinner attendees contracted the virus at the dinner itself or at one of the many parties last weekend surrounding it.
                ...
                There are no reports so far of any dinner attendees being hospitalized.

                Attendees at the White House correspondents’ dinner are generally privileged and well-connected people who have much better access to treatments such as Paxlovid as well as paid time off and other benefits than some other Americans do.

                The nature of a highly infectious disease such as COVID-19 is that cases from the dinner will not stop there, and people can transmit the virus to others.

                “It’s not about the people who are at the event,” said Walid Gellad, a professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. “What you do impacts what happens to other people.”
                ...
                "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."
                -Nelson Mandela

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                  • #10
                    Susan Rice tests positive for COVID-19 days after Biden meeting

                    By Steven Nelson
                    May 9, 2022 4:27pm Updated

                    White House domestic policy adviser Susan Rice said Monday that she had tested positive for COVID-19 — just five days after attending a meeting with President Biden.

                    “I’m feeling fine and grateful to be vaccinated and double boosted,” Rice wrote on Twitter. “I last saw the President in person on Wednesday—masked—and under CDC guidance he is not considered a close contact.”

                    Rice’s positive test follows the COVID-19 diagnosis of Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week following the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

                    Biden attended the 2,600-person dinner and shook hands with ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl, who tested positive shortly afterward.
                    ...
                    White House domestic policy adviser Susan Rice said Monday that she had tested positive for COVID-19 just five days after attending a meeting with President Biden.
                    "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."
                    -Nelson Mandela

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