U.S. 2nd gentleman tests +ve for Covid
WASHINGTON: US second gentleman Doug Emhoff has tested positive for Covid-19, the White House announced on Tuesday. Vice-president Kamala Harris tested negative, but is curtailing her schedule as a result of her husband’s positive test.
Harris spokesperson Sabrina Singh said Harris didn’t participate in a planned Equal Pay Day event on Tuesday evening at the White House with President Joe Biden “out of an abundance of caution”.
Harris, in a tweet on Tuesday evening, said, “Doug is doing fine and we are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted.” She added, “I have tested negative and will continue to test.”
Biden and Harris appeared together on Tuesday afternoon and mingled with lawmakers at an event marking the signing of a $1.5 trillion government funding measure.
Before Emhoff’s diagnosis was public, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden had tested negative for Covid-19 on Sunday.
China changes isolation policy amid outbreak
China on Wednesday reported 3,290 Covid-19 cases for the day earlier, as embattled health authorities said that those with mild infections should opt for centralised isolation instead of a hospital as was the rule until now.
The decision was taken to maximise hospital resources as China scrambles to contain the worst and widest Covid-19 outbreak since the virus was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019.
The change in rule is a rare acknowledgment that the current policy of mandatory hospitalisation for all positive patients could overwhelm hospitals amid surging cases.
Cases fell by half in the past 24 hours though health authorities across China continued to implement strict lockdown measures impacting millions of people and carried out repeated mass tests on residents at sealed off locations.
The northeastern province of Jilin, which is the epicentre of the ongoing outbreak, continued to be the worst hit. It recorded 1,456 locally transmitted symptomatic cases, making up 60% of total cases for the past 24 hours.
The province’s infections have also halved compared to a day earlier, but it still logged over a thousand new cases for the fourth consecutive day with an official describing the battle to stamp out the outbreak as having entered a “critical stage”.