Clyburn tests positive for COVID; Biden negative after exposure on SC trip

“America is in a new phase of this pandemic,” Clyburn, 81, said in a statement. “No one is immune.”

The South Carolina Democrat said he tested negative for COVID-19 last week ahead of President Joe Biden’s visit to South Carolina State University.

“On Sunday, my entire family took at-home tests as a precaution prior to my granddaughter’s wedding, which took place today,” he said. The home test was inconclusive, he said, and he quarantined and took another test Monday.

Clyburn said it took 56 hours to get results, which came back positive. He remains quarantined and missed the wedding.

Two senators and another House lawmaker said recently they have tested positive for COVID-19 after having been vaccinated: U.S. Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado and Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both tested negative for COVID-19 on Wednesday following separate incidents in which they were had close contact with aides who later tested positive for the coronavirus, the White House said.

“This morning, President Biden received a PCR test and the test result was negative,” the White House press office emailed reporters Wednesday, referring to a sensitive test used to detect the presence of coronavirus.

Biden had close contact on Air Force One last Friday, the day the president visited Orangeburg, with a staff member who later tested positive for the coronavirus and showed signs of COVID-19, the White House said.

That led to additional testing for the 79-year-old president, who is regularly tested and has received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine and a booster shot.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that Biden had had two negative tests since Sunday, and would be tested again on Wednesday. That’s the test result that came back negative.

Psaki said the staff member was around the president for about 30 minutes last Friday on the flight from Orangeburg to Philadelphia.

She said the staffer is fully vaccinated, had received a booster shot and had tested negative before boarding Air Force One.

Harris’ office said an aide who was with the vice president throughout Tuesday tested received a positive test result for COVID-19 on Wednesday morning.

Symone Sanders, Harris’ spokesperson, said the staffer is fully vaccinated, had received a booster and had tested negative every day last week as well as Monday and Tuesday of this week. The staffer did not experience symptoms of the disease, Sanders said.

Harris is also tested on a regular basis and is fully vaccinated and has received a booster dose. She tested negative Wednesday morning as part of that testing, Sanders said. After being informed of the staffer’s condition, Harris took a more sensitive test that also produced a negative result, Sanders said.

Harris will be tested again on Friday and next Monday, Sanders said, in accordance with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CDC guidance does not require fully vaccinated people to quarantine after exposure, and Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, were set to depart Wednesday evening for Los Angeles, where she will stay through New Year’s.