Labor Secretary Martin J. Walsh and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland are the latest members of President Biden’s cabinet to be infected with the coronavirus.
Mr. Walsh said Tuesday on Twitter that he had tested positive that day, and added that he was experiencing only mild symptoms. “I’m grateful to be both vaccinated and boosted,” he wrote.
He said he was isolating himself and following guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “I look forward to a quick recovery,” he wrote.
Mr. Biden was not considered a close contact of either Mr. Walsh or Ms. Haaland under C.D.C. guidelines, a White House spokesman said Wednesday.
A person is considered a close contact when they have been less than six feet away from an infected person for a total of at least 15 minutes over a 24-hour period, according to the C.D.C.
Mr. Walsh had not been around Mr. Biden in the past week, a Labor Department spokeswoman said Wednesday. It was not clear whether Mr. Walsh, 55, had gotten a second booster dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
Later Wednesday, Ms. Haaland said on Twitter that she had also tested positive.
“I feel fine and am grateful to be fully vaccinated and twice boosted,” she said. “I hope everyone stays current on their vaccinations so that, if they are exposed, they too will have milder symptoms.”
Several people in Mr. Biden’s inner circle have tested positive for the virus in the past month, including Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, and Susan Rice, the White House domestic policy adviser. Mr. Biden’s daughter, Ashley Biden, also became infected in mid-May.
