CIA Director William Burns has tested positive for COVID-19, on Thursday after taking a routine PCR test. The CIA said Burns is experiencing mild symptoms and working from home, with plans to return to the office after five days and testing negative. The director is fully vaccinated and boosted. He will continue his duties from home and plans to return to the office after isolating for five days and testing negative for the disease. Burns tested positive to the deadly disease at a critical time as the U.S. aids Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s aggression.
“Their interaction is not considered close contact as defined by CDC guidance, and Director Burns is sharing the news of his positive test out of an abundance of transparency,” the intelligence agency wrote in a statement.
Burns last met with President Joe Biden on Wednesday morning in a socially distanced meeting where the director wore an N-95 mask. The agency says Burns is not considered a close contact of the president by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention standards. The nature of the meeting was not disclosed by the CIA.
Biden is not known to have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic started. Several people in recent weeks have tested positive for the virus shortly after seeing the president, including press secretary Jen Psaki, deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.
