Pelosi aide, White House official test positive for coronavirus

WASHINGTON - A senior aide to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a White House official, both fully vaccinated, have tested positive for coronavirus after attending an event together, media reported on Tuesday.

"Yesterday, a fully vaccinated White House official tested positive for COVID-19 off-campus," the White House said in a statement, noting the staffer is now self-isolating.

"The White House Medical Unit has conducted contact tracing interviews and determined no close contacts among White House principals and staff. The individual has mild symptoms," said the statement.

Pelosi's office confirmed that the speaker's aide tested positive for COVID-19 after meeting with a group of Texas Democrats who came to Washington last week.

"Yesterday, a fully-vaccinated senior spokesperson in the speaker's press office tested positive for COVID after contact with members of the Texas state legislature last week," Pelosi's deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, said in a statement.

On Saturday, five Texas Democrats who had met with Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington tested positive for COVID-19, according to a USA Today report.

The vice president's office said she has since tested negative for COVID-19 and is being monitored.

The number of COVID-19 infections is surging again across the country, with the more contagious Delta variant now accounting for a majority of new cases, according to official data.

COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective but a small percentage of people who are fully vaccinated can still get COVID-19 if exposed to the virus that causes it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.