Coronavirus spreads inside Beltway after high-profile event

Concern is rising in Washington DC about a potential COVID-19 wave as two high-ranking government officials became the latest in the US capital to contract the coronavirus.

Attorney General Merrick Garland tested positive for the virus and will quarantine at home for five days, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Garland, who is fully vaccinated and boosted, is not yet experiencing symptoms but asked that he be tested after potential exposure.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo also tested positive using an at-home antigen test. The secretary has been vaccinated and received a booster shot. Raimondo's office said in a statement that "she is confident that the vaccine has prevented her from experiencing more significant symptoms".

The two officials were among more than a dozen attendees of the Gridiron Club dinner Saturday who have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19.

The club, founded in 1885, is the oldest and one of the most prestigious journalistic organizations in Washington DC.

The society affair was attended by prominent politicians, journalists and media executives. Guests had been asked to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination but were not required to be tested; many mingled without masks during the event.

Tom DeFrank, the president of the Gridiron Club, said the group knew of 14 guests who had attended the function and then tested positive. Many of the cases involve guests who were seated at three tables, he said.

"There is no way of being certain about when they first contracted COVID," DeFrank said. "But they did interact with other guests during the night, and we have to be realistic and expect some more cases."

Democratic congressmen Adam Schiff of California and Joaquin Castro of Texas also announced that they tested positive for the virus. Both had attended the Gridiron dinner.

Other members of Congress including Democratic representatives Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Scott Peters of California also have said they tested positive.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, special presidential climate envoy John Kerry and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell attended the Gridiron Club event, according to The Washington Post.

Dr Anthony Fauci, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky and White House press secretary Jen Psaki were also reportedly in attendance.

Politico also reported that a number of members of the press corps contracted the virus after attending the Gridiron Club affair, "sparking industry-wide chatter about the evening amounting to a quasi-super-spreader event and raising questions about whether the White House Correspondents Association dinner will actually go on as planned in a few weeks".

According to an invitation to the Gridiron Club dinner, attendees needed to "bring a picture ID and vaccine documents either on paper, in pictures on phones or through Apps like Bindle or Clear", politico.com reported. But those who attended said the credentials weren't always checked.

By Wednesday afternoon, the virus had spread further among administration officials. Jamal Simmons, the communications director for Vice-President Kamala Harris, announced that he had been infected.

Simmons "was in close contact to the Vice President as defined by CDC guidance", the vice-president's office said.

Simmons had been at a White House event the day before to celebrate the 12th anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act. While there, he was seen shaking hands and talking to former President Barack Obama, who recently tested positive for the virus.

Both did not wear masks, and many at the event had crowded around Obama to get a word with the former president.

In late March, Psaki came down with the virus for the second time. Her deputy, Karine Jean-Pierre, later tested positive.

Psaki, during a press briefing Wednesday, was asked about other public events at the White House and elsewhere, when the president is often seen without a mask and walking among attendees.

"It's not at public events — I'm talking about at meetings, but again, I can check on the protocols for public events," Psaki said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.