US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday via a PCR test.
Melissa Quartell, Acting Spokesperson of the US Mission to the United Nations, said in a statement, “Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield is fully vaccinated and boosted against the virus and is experiencing mild symptoms. She tested negative as recently as yesterday. The Ambassador has not seen President Biden in person recently, and the President is not considered a close contact according to guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).”
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield will isolate at home and continue to work from there for the time being, the statement said.
“Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield is grateful to the doctors, nurses, and medical staff who provide her and the State Department workforce with exemplary health services and encourages all Americans who are eligible to get fully vaccinated and boosted in order to protect themselves and their loved ones from developing severe COVID-19 illness,” concluded Quartell.
Thomas-Greenfield is the latest in a number of top US officials who have tested for the virus in recent weeks.
Earlier this week, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan tested positive for COVID-19. A National Security Council spokesperson said Sullivan is asymptomatic and he has not been in close contact with the President.
Last month, US Health Secretary Xavier Becerra tested positive for COVID-19, but he too was not considered a close contact of President Biden.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks before that and was said to be experiencing only mild symptoms.
A week earlier, Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for the virus. Several days later, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield also tested positive for the virus and said she was only experiencing mild symptoms.
In late September, State Department spokesperson Ned Price tested positive for COVID-19 after experiencing symptoms.