White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield tests positive for Covid

White House communications director Kate Bedingfield tested positive for covid on Friday, she announced, adding that she was not considered a close contact to President Joe Biden. 

Bedingfield, who is vaccinated and boosted, said she last saw the president on Wednesday but wore a mask when meeting with him. 

‘This morning, I tested positive for COVID-19. I last saw the President Wednesday in a socially-distanced meeting while wearing an N-95 mask, and he is not considered a close contact as defined by the CDC,’ she wrote on Twitter.

She said she has minor symptoms and will work from home. 

‘Thanks to being fully vaccinated and boosted, I am only experiencing mild symptoms. In alignment with White House COVID-19 protocols, I will work from home and plan to return to work in person at the conclusion of a five-day isolation period and a negative test,’ she noted.

Bedingfield is the latest official close to the president to test positive for covid.

Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive earlier this week and is working in isolation. 

She was prescribed and has taken antiviral drug Paxlovid after consultation with her physicians. 

A White House official told Reuters on Thursday that Harris remained asymptomatic, made calls to members of Congress and had several staff meetings. 

Harris will virtually meet leaders of 15 Caribbean nations on Friday as part of her work from home.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff posted a photo to his social media accounts this week of the vice president working from the Naval Observatory.

‘She is feeling good and is working from home,’ he noted.

In the photo, Harris is sitting at her desk and smiling for the camera.

The positive tests come ahead of Saturday’s White House Correspondents Association dinner. 

President Biden is scheduled to attend the event, which takes place at the Washington Hilton. There have been concerns that the dinner, which features about 3,000 guests, could become a covid superspreader as the white tie Gridiron dinner did in early April.

The White House has acknowledged the president could, at some point, test positive for covid.

But officials have stressed the protocols in place to keep the 79-year-old president safe. 

They argue since Biden is vaccinated and double boosted, he would likely only have minor symptoms. They note Biden is tested regularly and that many of their meetings are socially distanced. The White House dropped its face mask policy after the case rate declined but staff sometimes still wear masks. 

Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president’s top medical adviser, backed out of the correspondents’ dinner, telling ABC News, who had invited him, that he could no longer attend due to his own personal risk of contracting COVID-19. 

Fauci attended the April 2 Gridiron Dinner where at least 80 of the approximately 630 attendees testing positive for COVID in its aftermath. 

The White House Correspondents Association is requiring all guests to have tested negative for covid the day of the dinner and to be vaccinated. 

For the Gridiron Dinner, guests merely had to show their vaccination records. 

Among the high-profile guests to catch COVID after Gridiron: Attorney General Merrick Garland, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo – who was one of the speakers – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Reps. Adam Schiff, Julian Castro and Elaine Luria. 

Fauci was seated on the dais with Raimondo and Garland, but sat several seats away. 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed this week that President Biden was still planning to attend the Correspondents’ Dinner, saying, ‘just like many Americans, he makes risk assessments.’ 

‘It’s possible the president could test positive,’ she added. 

She noted that it was important to Biden to show, especially after former President Donald Trump skipped the media dinner during his one term.

‘That does stand in stark constrast to his predecessor, who not only questioned the legitimacy of the press on a nearly daily basis, but also never attended the dinner, I don’t believe,’ the press secretary added. ‘So he felt that was important and made a risk assessment to do that in consultation with his doctors and healthcare team.’

Psaki added that the president will take additional precautions including possibly wearing a mask when he wasn’t talking. Psaki – who has twice contracted COVID – said she’d also likely wear a mask. 

Biden won’t attend the dinner portion of the evening but will be there for the speeches and presentation of scholarships to journalism students. 

‘And we also took steps, including the fact that he’s not attending for the eating portion of the dinner,’ Psaki said. ‘And he’ll be there for the program, which includes a number of speakers, the presentation of scholarships, as you know, and of course his speaking and his roasting – where he will be on the menu, as he likes to say – Trevor Noah is speaking.’  

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner was last held in 2019. 

Traditionally the president gives a comedy bit – and then is roasted by a comedian. 

Former President Donald Trump never attended during his tenure – but was famously picked on by then President Barack Obama while in the audience as a private citizen in 2011. 

This year’s headliner is The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah.