Mike Pompeo.Photo: Vesa Moilanen/REX
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is inquarantineafter being exposed to someone with thenovel coronavirus(COVID-19), PEOPLE confirms.
The State Department said in a statement on Wednesday that Pompeo had “come into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID” but had so far tested negative himself.
The news comes just one day after the departmentorganized a holiday partywith a 900-person guest list — thoughThe Washington Postreported that “only a tiny fraction” of those invitees ended up attending, following backlash amid the ongoing surge of COVID-19 cases across the country.
Pompeo, 56, had been set to host the party and speak there but ultimately canceled his speech, according to thePost.
Pompeo was set to host another reception on Wednesday thoughThe Postreported that event had beenscuttled.
A spokesperson for the State Department previously told PEOPLE that a number of safety precautions would be in place for the events, including temperature checks, mandatory masks and social distancing guidelines.
Some attendees at an election-night party at the White House also later tested positive for the virus.
Even with social distancing guidelines in place, large indoor gatherings can be dangerous during the pandemic, experts say.
“We want everyone to understand that these holiday celebrations can be super-spreader events,” Surgeon General Jerome Adams said in a November interview withGood Morning America.
Federal guidelines against hosting indoor gatherings, he added, “apply to the White House, they apply to the American people, they apply to everyone.”
As information about thecoronavirus pandemicrapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from theWHOandlocal public health departments.PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMeto raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, clickhere.
source: people.com
