US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken tested positive

The head of American diplomacy will have to pause his travels. Antony Blinken indeed tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday afternoon just after feeling “mild symptoms”, announced the State Department.

He will “isolate himself at his home” and work virtually, said his spokesman Ned Price, stressing that he had “not seen” Joe Biden for “several days”. The President of the United States, who tested negative again on Tuesday, is therefore “not considered a contact case”, assured the White House for his part.

A speech on China postponed

Ned Price also announced that a major speech on the Biden government’s policy towards China, which Antony Blinken was to deliver on Thursday, was therefore postponed indefinitely. The Secretary of State was also due to participate in international meetings next week abroad. “He looks forward to returning to the State Department and resuming all of his duties and travels as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said.

People who have been in contact with Antony Blinken have been informed, including Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde, whom he received on Wednesday morning in Washington. The American minister had previously participated on Saturday evening in the very popular gala dinner of the correspondents of the White House, in the presence of Joe Biden. United States Vice President Kamala Harris, who tested positive for Covid-19 on April 26, was released from quarantine on Tuesday.