Visit by COVID-infected official closes Washington Monument
by Ellen Knickmeyer, The Associated Press
Posted Dec 18, 2020 3:54 pm EDT
Last Updated Dec 18, 2020 at 3:56 pm EDT
The Trump administration abruptly closed the Washington Monument on Friday over exposure concerns from an earlier visit by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who tested positive this week for the coronavirus.
Interior spokesman Nicholas Goodwin said “a couple” employees have quarantined since the visit, “resulting in a temporary workforce reduction at the monument and its temporary closure.”
Goodwin said in an email the Washington Monument, normally one of the capital’s most visited sites, would reopen Monday, with tickets going on sale Sunday.
WASHINGTON Federal officials closed the Washington Monument to visitors on a temporary basis beginning Friday after U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who led a private tour of the monument this week, tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
Interior Department spokesman Nicholas Goodwin confirmed the closure, which the Washington Post first reported. He said a couple employees at the monument were forced to quarantine as as result of Bernhardt s positive test, prompting the decision. As we do in all circumstances when an employee attests to having COVID-19, he said, the department worked with public health officials to follow proper guidelines such as identifying close contacts and cleaning areas as appropriate.
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The Trump administration abruptly closed the Washington Monument over exposure concerns from a recent visit by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who tested positive this week for the coronavirus.
Interior spokesman Nicholas Goodwin said Friday “a couple” of employees have quarantined since Bernhardt s visit, “resulting in a temporary workforce reduction at the monument and its temporary closure. The park service posted a brief notice of the closure on its website sometime Thursday.
An official with an independent advocacy group for national parks and park workers on Friday criticized Bernhardt, saying the interior secretary had failed to protect health and safety overall during the pandemic .
Pelosi, McConnell receive coronavirus vaccine from the Capitolâs top doctor
Updated December 18, 2020, 5:28 p.m.
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WASHINGTON â House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, received coronavirus vaccinations Friday afternoon, administered by the Capitolâs leading doctor as part of a plan he said is designed to preserve continuity of government.
Pelosi, 80, received a shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine from Brian Monahan, the attending physician of the US Congress and the Supreme Court.
Pelosiâs vaccination, viewed by the media, came just hours after Vice President Mike Pence received a dose at the White House complex on live television in a bid to build public confidence in the safety of coronavirus vaccines.