Staff member positive for COVID-19
Newsom says he wasn’t exposed to those who were infected
Two people who work in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office at the California state capitol tested positive for COVID-19, but Newsom had not been exposed to either, the governor said Wednesday afternoon.
One person is an intern, and the other is a staff member in an agency office, Newsom said. The contact-tracing process, led by the Department of Public Health, is under way and the appropriate people have been isolated, he said.
“It’s just another reminder of how easily transmitted this disease is, how despite some of the good news in our positivity rates and the stability we’re seeing in our our case rates across the state, how virulent this disease remains and how easily transmittable this disease continues to be,” Newsom said at a news conference in Solano County after being asked about the issue by reporters.
Newsom said he has been tested multiple times in recent weeks and months, most recently one hour before President Trump visited the state to discuss wildfires on Sept. 14.
“I haven’t tested positive. I’ve been tested on multiple occasions,” he said.
Newsom noted that California’s overall COVID-19 positivity rate has fallen to 2.4% — down from roughly 8% a few months ago.
The governor and his staff declined to release specific details that they said would identify the intern in the governor’s office or the employee in the other agency.
“The individual had not interacted with the governor or staff that routinely interacts with the governor,” Newsom’s press secretary Nathan Click said in a statement, referencing the intern.
The other employee “works in a shared workspace with some staff from the governor’s office,” Click said. He added that Newsom’s staff was notified Monday of the positive test.
“In this instance as well, the individual had not interacted with the governor or staff that routinely interacts with the governor,” he added.
Newsom said that some of his staff members are now “isolated” after coming into contact with the two individuals, but said he didn’t know how many people were in quarantine. A significant number of workers in the governor’s office have been working from home during the pandemic, he noted, and the workers still in the office have been wearing masks, social distancing and taking other precautions.
“We are going through a contact tracing process led by the Department of Public Health and they have both been isolated,” Newsom said. “We are working back from that frame to make sure that everybody is appropriately tested and anyone that has been in direct contact also goes through the protocols and procedures we have put out.”
In recent days, more than 20 people who work in the White House, including President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, aide Stephen Miller and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, have tested positive for the disease.