Despite the embraces and kisses on the cheek they had at two separate engagements this week, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday that President Joe Biden was not in intimate touch with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has tested positive for covid.

Close contact, according to CDC standards, is defined as “being within six feet for a cumulative total of 15 minutes throughout a 24-hour period.” It’s not a fabrication of the White House. At her daily news briefing, she stated, “It’s CDC recommendations.”

Psaki doubled down as she was probed on the subject, stating that the CDC’s definition of it is 15 minutes of contact within a specified period of time and within six feet. ”It did not meet that bar,’ she said of Biden and Pelosi’s time together. Psaki spent the majority of Thursday’s news conference supporting the White House’s assertion that Biden was not in close contact with the speaker and constantly describing the safeguards in place to prevent Biden from becoming infected.

The president, who is 79 years old, has been vaccinated and given a booster shot. After instances in the DC area decreased, the White House lifted its face mask ban. At such parties, Biden, like many other guests, wore no makeup. However, there has been an increase in positive tests in the last week, particularly among those who have access to Biden, raising concerns about the safeguards in place to prevent the 79-year-old from becoming infected.

Following Saturday’s Gridiron dinner, a white tie gathering of D.C. elite, and a goodbye party for former National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne late last week, congressmen, two cabinet officials, and numerous members of the White House press corps tested positive for covid.

Psaki stated that the White House has stringent rules in place to safeguard the president and other top officials. ‘We have incredibly stringent protocols here at the White House that we keep in place to keep the president safe. to keep everybody safe. Those go over and above CDC guidelines,’ she said. She stated that senior personnel is tested on a regular basis, as is anyone who meets with the president. ‘If you’re going to see him in person, whether you’re traveling with him or you’re meeting in the Oval Office, you will be tested,’ she noted.

Psaki, on the other hand, was unable to say whether Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson had tested negative for covid on Thursday. In the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Jackson joined Biden to witness the Senate vote to confirm her to the Supreme Court. Biden and Jackson are seen holding hands and hugging in photos.

On Friday, the White House will hold a memorial service for Jackson in the Rose Garden. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Kamala Harris’ communications director, Jamal Simmons, were among those who tested positive for covid during indoor events on Tuesday and Wednesday. Simmons had a close relationship with the vice president.

Harris and Pelosi both attended an event commemorating the Affordable Care Act’s first anniversary on Tuesday. Pelosi hugged former President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, who were both in attendance. Simmons, who later reported his positive covid diagnosis, was also hugged by Obama.

Psaki also mentioned that the event on Friday will be conducted outside, although the other events were held inside owing to the inclement weather in Washington, D.C. ‘It’s supposed to be a gorgeous day,’ says the narrator. ‘That is a significant factor,’ she stated. She dismissed concerns that Jackson’s party would become a superspreader, as President Donald Trump’s party for Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett did. Barrett’s celebration was also held in the Rose Garden of the White House. ‘Well, one, at that point in time vaccines weren’t available. People had not been immunized. ‘It really puts us in a different place,’ she explained.

The president’s safety and health were repeatedly questioned by Psaki as the positive cases surrounding him grew tighter. She stated that the White House has no intentions to amend covid guidelines or reintroduce a face mask policy. ‘We expected there to be ups and downs and increases,’ she said. She stated that she had no plans to test the president on a daily basis. Biden tested negative for covid on Wednesday evening and is tested periodically. ‘His doctor would make that decision, but it is not thought essential at this time,’ Psaki explained.

Pelosi’s office said on Thursday that she had tested positive for covid, just before she was supposed to attend her weekly news conference. Her office stated that she had previously tested negative this week. The speaker has been boosted and immunized. On Wednesday, Pelosi, 82, was present at the White House as President Joe Biden signed a postal reform law. She stood by the president’s side and shook his hand. She was also there at Tuesday’s ceremony at the White House. On Wednesday, she was observed wearing a mask at one point, but she removed it for the bill signing.

Biden was not considered a close contact, according to the White House. The White House claimed in a statement on Thursday that the President is not a close contact of Speaker Pelosi as defined by the CDC. ‘Over the last two days, the President has seen Speaker Pelosi at White House events and had brief contacts with her. The President tested negative last night as part of his routine testing. He will be tested on a regular basis in the future. The President sends his best wishes to Speaker Pelosi for a quick recovery.’

Pelosi’s office stated that she has no symptoms and that she is being quarantined.

Speaker Pelosi obtained a positive test result for COVID-19 after testing negative earlier this week. She is now asymptomatic. The Speaker has been completely vaccinated and boosted, and he is grateful for the vaccine’s strong protection. ‘The Speaker will quarantine in accordance with CDC recommendations, and she encourages everyone to get vaccinated, boosted, and tested on a regular basis,’ according to Pelosi’s spokesperson Drew Hammill.

Pelosi did not attend the Gridiron dinner, a black-tie gathering for Washington media and officials, on Saturday night. Hammill was also present.

Valerie Biden Owens, Biden’s sister, was at the Gridiron dinner and tested positive for covid, according to her publisher. Her memoir’s launch party was canceled, and her publisher stated that she has no direct ties to the president or first lady.

Several parliamentarians, cabinet ministers, and senior staff members reported on Wednesday that they had tested positive for covid after attending the invitation-only Gridiron event, which is proving to be a powerful spreader.

One of them was Kamala Harris’ communications director, who is considered a key contact to the vice president, according to Harris’ office. Jamal Simmons, who began working for Harris in early January, has isolated himself and is working from home. Harris’ publicist Kristin Allen said in a statement that Harris “shall follow CDC advice for people who have been in close contact with a positive individual and will continue to communicate with her doctors.” ‘The Vice President intends to keep her public appearance schedule.’ When Harris went to Capitol Hill on Thursday to preside over Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation vote, she wore a face mask in the Senate corridors. It’s the vice president’s second recent exposure, after her husband Doug Emhoff tested positive for covid last month.

Simons is the most recent case in a string of positive tests linked to prominent Washington D.C. figures, many of whom have close ties to the White House.

After dining at the head table with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, another positive case, at the white-tie Gridiron Dinner on Wednesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland tested positive for covid. Garland, who has been vaccinated and boosted, has shown no signs of illness. ‘He asked to be tested after learning that he may have been exposed to the virus,’ the Justice Department said in a statement. Garland made the statement after a press briefing on Russian sanctions on Wednesday. He was flanked by his deputies and did not wear a face mask. He’ll stay at home for at least five days before returning to work after a negative covid test.

Raimondo tested positive with an at-home antigen test earlier Wednesday after ‘experiencing moderate symptoms,’ according to a statement from the Commerce Department. ‘I tested positive for COVID today. ‘Fortunately, I am completely vaccinated (and boosted! ), and I am convinced that this vaccine is the reason I am not experiencing more serious symptoms,’ she tweeted. She shared her diagnosis ‘out of an abundance of transparency,’ according to the department. She’ll go on a five-day fast and work from home. Raimondo lingered late after the event, socializing at an after party and engaging with various members of the press in attendance.

According to the Commerce Department, President Biden was not considered a close contact. Biden did not attend the dinner on Saturday night. Neither Garland nor Raimondo were present at a full White House celebration celebrating the Affordable Healthcare Act on Tuesday, when Vice President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama spoke.

President of the Gridiron Club, Tom DeFrank, revealed on Wednesday afternoon that 14 dinner guests have tested positive for covid. ‘There is no way of knowing when they originally contracted Covid,’ he argues in his statement. ‘But they did interact with other guests during the night and we have to be realistic and expect some more cases.’

Raimondo was the featured speaker at the Gridiron dinner on Saturday night, one of the swankiest events of the D.C. social season. The private dinner, which took place in a hotel in Washington, D.C., did not disclose any images or video footage from the event.

Guests were needed to present proof of vaccination, but not to have a negative covid test prior to the meal.

In the Renaissance hotel ballroom, almost 600 individuals were crammed into rows of tables.

Raimondo sat at the head table alongside Garland, Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova, and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, among others.

Members of Congress and other administration officials were among those who didn’t wear masks during the dinner.

Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control, were among those in attendance, as were Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Joaquin Castro, who both reported positive covid tests this week. Several reporters who were present at the meal tested positive as well. ‘I’m OK, and I’m grateful to have been vaccinated and given a boost.’ ‘I will quarantine and follow CDC rules in the following days,’ Schiff tweeted.

‘Unfortunately, after two years of avoiding COVID-19, I’ve contracted it. Castro tweeted on Tuesday, “I tested negative yesterday and last Thursday, but positive today.”

In view of the increase in cases involving close relationships to the administration, Psaki stated on Monday that the White House’s covid policies had not changed. ‘Our policy is that all Executive Office of the President employees surrounding the President are on a regular testing schedule to screen for COVID on campus. That goes above and beyond the CDC’s recommendations. You will be tested that day if you are going to visit the President, even if you are not traveling with him — just if you are going to see him for a meeting,’ she added at her news conference. ‘And, in many cases, encounters with the President are socially isolated as an added precaution, even as people are examined,’ she added.

Biden has been inoculated and given a boost. Last week, he received his second booster shot.

For members of the media, the Gridiron Club dinner is an off-camera, off-the-record affair. The yearly event is attended by politicians and other celebrities.

A Republican speaker, a Democratic speaker, and a speaker representing the current administration will speak at the event, which will also include a series of sketches done by club members.

Raimondo, Republican Governor of New Hampshire Chris Sununu, and Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland were among the guests at the club’s 137th supper.

 

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