Education secretary tests positive for COVID-19

WASHINGTON >> President Joe Biden’s education secretary has tested positive for COVID-19.

Miguel Cardona, who has been vaccinated and boosted against the virus, tested positive today and has mild symptoms, the Education Department said in a statement.

He tested positive the morning after he attended Halloween festivities at the White House. Biden and his wife, Jill, hosted a trick-or-treat event at the White House on Monday, but the Education Department said they are not close contacts of Cardona, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cardona, 47, separately welcomed elementary school trick-or-treaters to the Education Department on Monday and later spoke at the Association of Art Museum Directors’ annual meeting.

The education chief will continue attending meetings and performing his duties while working remotely and in isolation, his agency said. He will return to in-person meetings when he tests negative.

Cardona is among several Biden administration officials who have gotten COVID-19, including CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky and Health Secretary Xavier Becerra.