Washington (dpa) – US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday said he has tested positive for the coronavirus.
“My symptoms are mild, and I am following my physician’s directions,” Austin said in a statement adding he would quarantine at home for the following five days in accordance with US health authority CDC’s guidelines.
“To the degree possible, I plan to attend virtually this coming week those key meetings and discussions required to inform my situational awareness and decision making,” Austin said. “I will retain all authorities. Deputy Secretary [Kathleen] Hicks will represent me as appropriate in other matters.”
The defence secretary said that he was fully vaccinated and had received a booster in October. He had last seen US President Joe Biden in person on December 21, more than a week before beginning to experience symptoms and having tested negative that very morning, he said.
Austin was last in the Pentagon on Thursday when he briefly met a few members of his staff.
The number of new coronavirus infections in the US has recently risen rapidly, in part due to the spread of the particularly contagious Omicron variant.
On average, health authorities in the country of 330 million inhabitants recorded around 300,000 new infections every day for the past seven days.
