Vice President Kamala Harris has tested positive for COVID-19, her office revealed in a statement on Tuesday, joining millions of others who have contracted the illness since the coronavirus pandemic first began more than two years ago.
“Today, Vice President Harris tested positive for COVID-19 on rapid and PCR tests,” Harris’ spokesperson, Kirsten Allen, announced.
Harris, Allen continued, “will isolate and continue to work from the vice president’s residence. She has not been a close contact to the president or first lady due to their respective recent travel schedules. She will follow CDC guidelines and the advice of her physicians. The vice president will return to the White House when she tests negative.
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President Joe Biden has not tested positive for the virus in his most recent test, per a White House official. The pair last appeared in public together on April 18, during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. That event was held outdoors on the South Lawn of the White House.
The White House said in a statement that Biden and Harris had spoken on Tuesday afternoon.
"He wanted to check in and make sure she has everything she needs as she quarantines at home,” it said.
Since then, Harris has been dispatched on a series of domestic trips across the country, including a swing through her home state of California for fundraising for the Democratic National Committee and a visit to a U.S. Space Force base.
Harris, who is 57 years old, has been vaccinated and twice boosted against the virus that has claimed nearly one million American lives, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found greatly reduces the risk of hospitalization. But details regarding the vice president’s physical health are unclear—she last publicly underwent a medical exam in July 2021, which was characterized as a “routine check-up,” but the results of which were not publicly released by Harris’ office.
The White House said that Harris has currently displayed no symptoms, and stated that she would work from her private quarters at the Naval Observatory.
Douglas Emhoff, Harris’ spouse, tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-March, and has since recovered.
