Kamala Harris tests positive for COVID, says White House

US Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday but is asymptomatic and not considered a current close contact of President Joe Biden, the White House said.

"Today, Vice President Harris tested positive for COVID-19 on rapid and PCR tests. She has exhibited no symptoms, will isolate and continue to work from the vice president's residence," said Harris' press secretary, Kirsten Allen.

"She has not been a close contact to the president or first lady due to their respective recent travel schedules," Allen said, adding that Harris would "return to the White House when she tests negative."

Harris, 57, is the latest in a rash of cases sweeping through the Washington elite.

Her husband, Doug Emhoff, came down with Covid in March, although Harris herself remained negative.

As infections from the virulent, but dramatically less dangerous, omicron variant of the coronavirus mount, the White House has publicly aired the possibility of the 79-year-old Biden testing positive while downplaying any potential fallout.

"It is certainly possible that he will test positive for COVID, and he is vaccinated, he is boosted and protected from the most severe strains of the virus," White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said earlier this month.

High-profile cases in Washington recently include White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who contracted COVID in March and also last year, as well as House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who comes after Harris in the line of succession to the presidency.

In October 2020, before vaccines were available, then president Donald Trump spent three days in hospital receiving emergency treatment for COVID-19, which he had told Americans was not a danger.

More than 900,000 people in the United States have now died from COVID-19, which at its peak killed over 3,000 a day. Currently about 300 to 400 people die from COVID every day in the world's richest country.

Agence France-Presse

Former US Vice President Walter Mondale dies at 93

WASHINGTON - Former US Vice President Walter Mondale, a liberal icon who famously told voters to expect a tax increase should he win the presidency, died Monday, US media reported. He was 93 years old.

No cause was given for Mondale's death, according to reports citing a statement from his family.

Mondale served as vice president under Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981.

"Today I mourn the passing of my dear friend Walter Mondale, who I consider the best vice president in our country's history," Carter said in a statement, extending his condolences to his former number two's family.

"He was an invaluable partner and an able servant of the people of Minnesota, the United States, and the world."

Prior to his stint at the White House, Mondale had served as attorney general to his home state of Minnesota from 1960 to 1964, and then as US senator from that state from 1964 to 1976.

After Carter left office, Mondale went on to serve as ambassador to Japan between 1993 and 1996.

Senator Amy Klobuchar, a fellow Minnesotan, mourned Mondale's passing, calling him "kind and dignified to the end," while former President Barack Obama said Mondale "championed progressive causes and changed the role of VP."

Current Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement her predecessor "led an extraordinary life of service," and called him "so generous with his wit and wisdom over the years."

President Joe Biden reflected on some of his fondest memories of Mondale, including that he had been one of the first to greet Biden when he first arrived at the US Senate. 

Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale was born on Jan. 5, 1928 in the tiny town of Ceylon, Minnesota. The son of a Methodist minister and a music teacher, he moved through several small towns in the southern part of the state throughout his childhood.

At age 20, Mondale became a congressional district manager for Hubert Humphrey's successful Senate campaign. Humphrey would later become Mondale's political mentor.

Mondale began his national political career in 1964, when he was appointed to fill Humphrey's Senate seat, the latter having resigned to become vice president.

An outspoken supporter of civil rights, Mondale advocated throughout his Senate career for education, housing, migrant worker rights and child nutrition.

He made his own bid for the White House in 1984, facing off against Republican Ronald Reagan. Mondale picked US representative Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, making him the first major-party presidential nominee to put a woman on the ticket.

During his campaign, he infamously told voters to expect a tax increase if he won, which would later go on to define the race.

On Election Day, Mondale won only Minnesota and the District of Columbia.

"I did my best," he said the day after the vote.

Mondale served as the US ambassador to Japan under Bill Clinton, and he sought to increase trade between the 2 countries.

He kept up his relationship with the Clintons and in 2008 initially endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. He changed his endorsement once Obama secured the nomination.

Mondale married his wife, Joan Adams Mondale, in 1955. The couple had 3 children: sons Ted and William, and daughter Eleanor.

Ted and William followed their father into politics and public service, while Eleanor became a broadcast journalist.

Joan died in 2014 after an extended illness, and Eleanor died in 2011 from brain cancer.

Agence France-Presse