(Trends Wide) — The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has covid-19, a spokesperson for the Californian Democrat reported on Thursday.
“After testing negative this week, Speaker Pelosi has received a positive test result for COVID-19 and is currently asymptomatic,” Drew Hammill, Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, tweeted. “The president is fully vaccinated and boosted, and she is grateful for the strong protection the vaccine has provided.”
Hammill announced Pelosi’s positive test result just before her weekly news conference, which was cancelled. He also said that a planned congressional delegation to Asia, which was to be led by Pelosi during the two-week congressional recess, “will be postponed to a later date.”
Representatives Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, who is also Deputy House Democratic Leader; Joaquin Castro, from Texas; Gregory Meeks of New York; Adam Schiff of California; Derek Kilmer of Washington; Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and Scott Peters of California announced positive test results this week.
It is not the first time that people close to Pelosi have been reported with covid-19.
Last month, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin tested positive for covid-19 while attending a gala in Washington. According to a photo from the event, Pelosi sat next to Martin at the gala.
In July 2021, a senior member of Pelosi’s office tested positive for covid.
Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House, is 82 years old. As speaker of the House, Pelosi is second in line to the presidential succession behind the vice president.
— This is a developing story. Trends Wide’s Sam Fossum contributed to this report.