“We know that there will be breakthrough cases,” Ms. Psaki said, adding that there had been previous cases at the White House that had not been disclosed. “This is another reminder of the efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccines against severe illness or hospitalizations.”
She said the aide had no close contact with Mr. Biden or top White House officials.
The Covid vaccines in use in the United States have proven to be effective at reducing the risk of severe symptoms or hospitalization, but infections among fully vaccinated individuals, known as breakthrough infections, are not unheard-of. It is not yet clear whether the highly transmissible Delta variant circulating across the country increases the likelihood of breakthrough infections.
As a result of the positive test, Mr. Hammill said that Ms. Pelosi’s press office was working remotely, with the exception of those aides who had tested negative or did not come into contact with the infected spokesperson.
The news of the infections rattled some on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers and professional staff have been moving toward more normal operations for months now. Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland and the majority leader, said that rising coronavirus cases across the country could force the House to reconsider its relaxation of mask requirements and other pandemic-era measures like the use of proxy voting.
“We are going to have to decide, given the upswing in every state, whether or not prudence demands we go back to wearing a mask,” Mr. Hoyer told reporters on Tuesday.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/20/us/politics/pelosi-aide-breakthrough-infection.html
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