Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg revealed Monday that he’s the latest member of President Biden’s cabinet to contract COVID-19.
“I have tested positive for COVID-19 and am experiencing mild symptoms,” Buttigieg said in a statement.
“I plan to work remotely while isolating according to CDC guidelines, and look forward to when I can safely return to the office and the road.”
Buttigieg, 40, is the youngest member of the cabinet, which reduces his risk of becoming seriously ill. He and his husband, Chasten, are the adoptive parents of infant twins.
Most other cabinet secretaries already caught the virus, but Biden, who turns 80 in November, has eluded it so far — despite largely ditching protective masks to signal a return to normalcy after more than two years of pandemic restrictions.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said last week that they also contracted the coronavirus as the BA.2 strain of the Omicron variant drives yet another wave of infections.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and first daughter Ashley Biden tested positive last month after attending events for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where the president shook hands with ABC reporter Jonathan Karl, who later tested positive.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra tested positive in Germany in mid-May after attending a summit in Bali, Indonesia.
In April, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, as well as White House domestic policy adviser Susan Rice, revealed positive results after attending the superspreader Gridiron Dinner.
Also in April, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) revealed her diagnosis with the virus after two consecutive days of events with Biden — including one where she got a kiss on the cheek from the president — as did first sister Valerie Biden Owens.
In January, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin caught COVID-19. Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive in late April.
According to CDC data, since March 2020 there have been more than 84.5 million US COVID-19 cases and more than 1 million American deaths.