Director of US CDC tests positive for COVID-19, experiencing mild symptoms
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Saturday that its director had tested positive for COVID-19.
Rochelle Walensky, who's up to date with her vaccines, is experiencing mild symptoms, the agency said in a release.
"Consistent with CDC guidelines, she is isolating at home and will participate in her planned meetings virtually," the release read.
Senior staff and close contacts, it added, have been informed of her positive test and are monitoring their health.
A spokesperson said Walensky was not at the White House late last week and did not meet with any senior US officials before testing positive.
Walensky, 53, took over the CDC in January 2021 and is the latest US health official to have contracted the virus.
"Respiratory viruses are on the rise across the United States," she tweeted on Friday.
"Get an updated COVID-19 vaccine & get your annual flu vaccine," she also wrote. "Stay home if you are sick. Practice good hand hygiene."
The CDC has recently stopped publishing COVID-19 case and death data on a daily basis and instead moved to issue weekly updates.
The US has reported a total of 97 million COVID-19 infections and over 1 million deaths.
The US "could be facing another very dark pandemic winter," warned Martha Lincoln, assistant professor of medical and cultural anthropology at San Francisco State University, and Nate Holdren, who teaches at Drake University, in a joint opinion published by Time recently.
The US government's "failure to push for better pandemic measures will cost the lives and health of many Americans," they wrote.
Rochelle Walensky, who's up to date with her vaccines, is experiencing mild symptoms, the agency said in a release.
"Consistent with CDC guidelines, she is isolating at home and will participate in her planned meetings virtually," the release read.
Senior staff and close contacts, it added, have been informed of her positive test and are monitoring their health.
A spokesperson said Walensky was not at the White House late last week and did not meet with any senior US officials before testing positive.
Walensky, 53, took over the CDC in January 2021 and is the latest US health official to have contracted the virus.
"Respiratory viruses are on the rise across the United States," she tweeted on Friday.
"Get an updated COVID-19 vaccine & get your annual flu vaccine," she also wrote. "Stay home if you are sick. Practice good hand hygiene."
The CDC has recently stopped publishing COVID-19 case and death data on a daily basis and instead moved to issue weekly updates.
The US has reported a total of 97 million COVID-19 infections and over 1 million deaths.
The US "could be facing another very dark pandemic winter," warned Martha Lincoln, assistant professor of medical and cultural anthropology at San Francisco State University, and Nate Holdren, who teaches at Drake University, in a joint opinion published by Time recently.
The US government's "failure to push for better pandemic measures will cost the lives and health of many Americans," they wrote.
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