WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, the US State Department said, adding that he was experiencing mild symptoms.

The top US diplomat, who is fully vaccinated and boosted, has not seen President Joe Biden in person for several days and therefore Biden is not considered “a close contact,” the department said in a statement.

“The secretary will isolate at home and maintain a virtual work schedule. He looks forward to returning to the department and resuming his full duties and travels as soon as possible,” the statement said.

It added that Blinken tested negative Tuesday and again earlier Wednesday morning with antigen tests but took the PCR test after developing symptoms.

Blinken attended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (WHCD) in Washington, D.C. over the weekend, a black-tie gathering of several thousand people including prominent figures in the media and politics, as well as a number of receptions related to it.



Before testing positive, Blinken met Wednesday at the State Department with Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde and on Tuesday with his Mexican counterpart Marcelo Ebrard. Ebrard said in a tweet that he had taken a PCR test after meeting with Blinken.

In a briefing, department spokesperson Ned Price said the agency was working to inform those who were in close contact with Blinken over the past days.

Price, who routinely sees Blinken, said he tested negative about an hour before the briefing.

Blinken had been scheduled to give a speech Thursday about the Biden administration’s China policy, but Price said that speech has been indefinitely postponed.

He is the latest Biden administration figure to test positive. Vice President Kamala Harris was cleared to return to to the White House on Tuesday after testing positive last week.

(With AFP, AP and Reuters)