Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner was just another gathering of the sophisticated, vaccinated crowd, so there was nothing for attendees to worry about — except from “the help,” who had to wear masks.
But as we told you early on Wednesday, ABC News’ Jon Karl tested positive for Covid-19:
ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl has tested positive for Covid-19, people familiar with the matter confirm, days after sitting next to Kim Kardashian at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and interacting with President Joe Biden.
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“He tested positive for COVID Monday night, but tested negative on Saturday afternoon before the White House Correspondents Dinner by medically-supervised staff,” a person familiar with the matter said. “He had no symptoms on Saturday. Jon is currently isolating and participating in contract tracing.”
Karl had also met close up with President Biden. Karl reportedly isn’t alone in catching Covid, likely because of the WHCD:
JUST IN 🚨 Reporters and staffers from CNN, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, Politico, and other participating news organizations have tested positive for the Covid-19 after White House Correspondents Dinner weekend, CNN reported
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) May 4, 2022
During the WHCD, a reporter at the event equated it to a “horror show” because of the lack of masks and big crowd:
This room is like a horror film. No exits. Literally getting trapped between tables. Fear of breathing near people but people are everywhere. Creeping sense that you’re the only one who know this is insane. pic.twitter.com/nsxrDYU3aG
— Jada Yuan (@jadabird) May 1, 2022
Fast forward a couple days, and…
Welp. So I, too, got covid — and it sucks. It could have been the WHCD dinner I was covering or the surrounding events (also covering). Dinner had testing requirement, events did not. And now I’ll be missing a major international work trip I really wanted to do. https://t.co/5l7JxVweXC
— Jada Yuan (@jadabird) May 4, 2022
I’m mad at myself for not pausing to ask the question, “Is THIS assignment worth getting covid for?” (Definitive no) “Or do you want to protect yourself so you can do the big trip you were looking forward to?”
— Jada Yuan (@jadabird) May 4, 2022
Hindsight and all that, but wear a mask or leave or tell your employer you can’t go if you’re in a situation where you feel uncomfortable. Those consequences are usually better than the ones you’ll face if you get sick.
— Jada Yuan (@jadabird) May 4, 2022
At this point the Biden White House and CDC would instead recommend tweeting about being grateful about being Vaxxed and double-boosted.
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Related:
Gov. Ron DeSantis points to another reason DC/NYC cabal at WHCD are ‘reviled by so many Americans’
