Reports of COVID infections following the White House Correspondent’s Dinner in Washington, D.C. should come as no surprise.
“It is my great honor to be speaking tonight at the nation’s most distinguished superspreader event,” host Trevor Noah joked at the gala on Saturday.
ABC newsman Jonathan Karl and Steve Herman, a chief national correspondent for Voice of America tested positive for the virus on Monday and both shook hands with President Biden on stage at the event.
Karl was also sitting at the same table as reality tv star Kim Kardashian and her boyfriend, Pete Davidson of “Saturday Night Live” acclaim as first reporting by Politico.
Steven Portnoy of CBS News Radio, who currently heads the organizer, the White House Correspondents’ Association, said case numbers remain in the single digits according to the New York Times.
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In the days since WHCD weekend, reporters and staffers from CNN, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, Politico, and other participating news organizations have tested positive for the virus, according to CNN.
The WHCA was dogged by some controversy even before the positive tests surfaced.
Dr. Anthony Fauci withdrew from the event after citing his own “personal risk.”
[ Fauci bails on White House Correspondents dinner, citing ‘risk’ ]
Fauci is 81, just two years older than Biden, raising some critics to question whether the commander-in-chief should have attended.
The gala came a month after a similar event, the Gridiron Club gala, which led to a string of Washington D.C. power players testing positive.
