Secretary Of State Antony Blinken Tests Positive For COVID-19

Secretary of State Antony Blinken tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday afternoon, according to the State Department .

Blinken is fully vaccinated and boosted, the department said in a statement, and he is experiencing “mild symptoms.” He had tested negative on Tuesday and again on Wednesday morning. 

The secretary of state attended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday evening with some 2,600 other attendees — including President Joe Biden . However, the State Department said Biden isn’t considered a close contact of Blinken, as they have not seen each other in person in “several days.” 

Several journalists who attended the WHCD gala have also since tested positive .

The highly contagious omicron BA.2 subvariant  of the coronavirus has been spreading in the U.S., causing a rise in COVID cases in recent weeks — though the number of cases nationwide is still far lower than it was during the major winter spike.

Vaccination continues to provide the best protection against severe hospitalization and death from the virus.