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Kamala Harris will return to work with mask after negative COVID test

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Social Links for Callie Patteson
Published May 2, 2022, 4:51 p.m. ET

Vice President Kamala Harris is set to return to work Tuesday after testing negative for COVID-19 — a week after she first tested positive for the virus.

“Today the Vice President tested negative for COVID-19 on a rapid antigen test,” Harris’ office said Monday, adding that she would return to work in person the following day. 

Harris will continue to follow guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which urge people to wear a well-fitted mask when around others for a 10-day period, her office continued. 

The vice president tested positive for coronavirus last Tuesday following a week-long trip throughout California. In recent months, Harris has been exposed to the virus several times – either in the Cabinet, her office or her home. 

Harris is fully vaccinated and twice boosted and was not determined to be a close contact of President Biden or the First Lady, the White House said last week. 

At the time of her positive test result, Harris was not exhibiting symptoms but isolated and worked from the vice president’s residence. 

Vice President Kamala Harris has tested negative for COVID-19 and will return to her office.
Vice President Kamala Harris has tested negative for COVID-19 and will return to her office. Yalonda M. James/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
Harris will wear a mask while around other people for the next 10 days, according to her office.
Harris will wear a mask while around other people for the next 10 days, according to her office. Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines a close contact as someone who was within 6 feet of someone who tested positive for COVID for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period.

Only days after Harris tested positive, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield also announced that she contracted COVID-19 and was experiencing “mild symptoms.”