Second gentleman Doug Emhoff tests positive for Covid, White House says

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff has tested positive for Covid, the White House announced Tuesday.

The news of the positive test came right as President Joe Biden took the stage to deliver remarks at a White House event on Equal Pay Day. Vice President Kamala Harris, who was supposed to attend, withdrew from the event.

“Earlier today, the Second Gentleman tested positive for COVID-19. Out of an abundance of caution, the Vice President will not participate in tonight’s event,” Harris spokesperson Sabrina Singh said in a statement. “The Vice President tested negative for COVID-19 today and will continue to test.”

The vice president was with Biden earlier Tuesday, when the president signed the $1.5 trillion spending bill. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on when Biden was last tested.

The president addressed Emhoff’s positive case during the Equal Pay Day event, adding that the second gentleman was “feeling very well.”

“Kamala chose not to take a chance since her husband had contracted Covid, although he’s feeling very well, I’m told,” Biden said. “By the way, he’s fine, but out of an abundance of caution she decided she wasn’t going to join us today. But let’s send her our love.”

Both Biden and Harris have avoided testing positive for Covid so far, even after multiple exposures during the Omicron surge. The president didn’t contract Covid in December after a White House staff member who flew with him on Air Force One tested positive for the coronavirus. White House press secretary Jen Psaki has noted multiple times that the president is tested regularly.

Biden, Harris and Emhoff are fully vaccinated and received their booster doses in the fall.

The White House eased its pandemic mitigation measures last month as Covid cases dropped across the country. Ahead of Biden’s State of the Union Address on March 1, the White House relaxed its mask mandate, lifting the requirement for fully vaccinated individuals. Nearly the entire White House staff is vaccinated.