The wife of federal Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 and is suffering mild symptoms, Azar informed staff Thursday via email.
"Today, my family learned that my wife Jennifer has tested positive for COVID-19," the email obtained by Politico said.
Azar wrote, his wife "scrupulously followed public health guidelines" and immediately quarantined herself after the onset of initial symptoms – even after an instant test returned negative.
A subsequent molecular test, however, came back positive.
The secretary added he and his children have so far tested negative and are not experiencing any symptoms of the flu-like respiratory disease.
"I will be carrying out my duties of my office while strictly adhering to CDC guidelines for essential workers, continuing to practice social distancing, wearing a mask and monitoring for any symptoms," Azar's email said. "In addition, I have been tested every day, and will be tested every day until my exposure period has concluded."
The increase in the seven-day moving average of new daily novel coronavirus infections in the United States appears to have slowed over the past week, according to Worldometers.info. After more than quadrupling between early October and Nov. 25, falling and then rising another 30% between Dec. 1 and Dec. 10, the increase has slowed to 2% over the past six days.
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