A Covid-19 outbreak hits D.C. elites after 72 high-profile personalities, including members of the Biden administration and reporters, tested positive for Covid-19 after attending the Gridiron Dinner in Washington D.C. last weekend.
DeFrank said Saturday that 68 attendees tested positive for Covid-19. The Covid-19 cases increased to 72 after five new cases were reported today, according to the latest update by Gridiron Club President Tom DeFrank.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams was one of those who attended the Gridiron Club dinner in D.C. last Saturday.
According to Adams’ spox, the Mayor canceled all public events for the week.
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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who has been fully vaccinated and boosted, tested positive Friday and is experiencing mild symptoms, his office said in a statement Saturday, adding to a new wave of cases that has swept through the nation’s capital.
Two other members of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, tested positive last week after they attended the annual social gathering of high-profile political media and business figures.
Garland attended a news conference with FBI Director Christopher Wray before he tested positive later Wednesday. 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 they attended the white-tie event, including Reps. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the chairman of the Intelligence Committee.
So did Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who announced her positive test Thursday after she voted 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, the president’s sister, were also among guests who tested positive after the event.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who did not attend the dinner, also tested positive last week after she spent time with Biden and Harris. The president and the vice president tested negative last week.
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