White House sees more breakthrough Covid-19 cases among staff

A fully vaccinated White House official tested positive for Covid19 but was found to have had no close contacts with White House principals or staff confirmed White House press secretary Jen Psaki on TuesdayYesterday a fully vaccinated White House official tested positive for Covid19 offcampus In accordance with our rigorous Covid19 protocols the official remains off campus as they wait for confirmatory PCR test said Psaki during Tuesdays press briefing confirming earlier local media reports of the breakthrough caseShe said that the White House medical unit has conducted contact tracing and interviews finding no close contact among White House principals staff or President Joe Biden the Xinhua news agency reportedThere have been other instances of vaccinated employees testing positive Psaki said though they were not commissioned officers and therefore were not reported by the administrationWe committed that we would release information proactively if it is commissioned officers she said Commissioned officers hold a highlevel position where they work for the president rather than working for another White House officialAlso read Facebook harming not killing people with Covid19 misinformation Joe BidenAsked whether the administration fears that these breakthrough cases will spur more vaccine hesitancy among Americans Psaki said that she hasnt seen data to indicate this trendWe know that there will be breakthrough cases but as this instance shows cases in vaccinated individuals are typically mild she saidA senior spokesperson for House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has also tested positive after coming into contact with Democrats from the Texas state legislature last weekThe spokesperson was fully vaccinated and had no contact with Pelosi since being exposed to the virus according to the speakers officeThe entire Press Office is working remotely today with the exception of individuals who have had no exposure to the individual or have had a recent negative test Drew Hammill Pelosis deputy chief of staff said in a statement on TuesdayCovid19 cases are on the rise again in the US as the highly transmissible Delta variant is taking hold and vaccination efforts are stagnating in the countryBiden urged all Americans to remain vigilant in the fight against Covid19 especially with the rise of the Delta variant during his second full Cabinet meeting of his administration on TuesdayThe safest thing to do is to get vaccinated get vaccinated said BidenThe Delta variant accounts for more than 83 per cent of Covid19 cases in the country said Rochelle Walensky director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC on TuesdayThe pace of vaccinations in the US has dropped sharply in the past few months Twelve states have yet to vaccinate 40 per cent of their population CDC data showAbout 486 per cent of the US population is fully vaccinated against Covid19 and 561 per cent of the population has received at least one shot as of Monday according to CDC dataOn Monday the American Academy of Pediatrics released new guidance for schools that supports inperson learning and recommends universal masking in schools for everyone over the age of 2This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever