CIA chief tests Covid positive

William Burns, Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has tested positive for Covid-19, joining a list of high-profile administration officials who have contracted the virus recently.

Burns, 65, who is fully vaccinated and boosted against the coronavirus, "has experienced mild symptoms", Xinhua news agency quoted a CIA statement as saying on Thursday.

He met President Joe Biden on Wednesday morning during a "socially distanced meeting, and was wearing an N-95 mask". the statement said.

"Their interaction is not considered close contact as defined by CDC guidance," it added.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines close contact as someone who is less than 6 feet away from an infected individual for more than 15 minutes.

Burns will continue to perform his duties as CIA Director but will work from home.

He plans to return to the office following a negative test and after isolating for five days, according to the statement.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki and Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also recently tested positive for Covid-19 and worked remotely.

Both women were vaccinated and boosted and said to be experiencing mild symptoms.

As of Friday morning, the total number of Covid-19 cases in the US stood at 80,103,665, with 980,624 deaths, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.

Both numbers are the highest in the world, which makes the US the worst-hit country in the world.

The highly contagious Omicron sub-variant BA.2 is now the dominant strain of Covid-19 in the US, accounting for almost 55 per cent of all the new infections last week, according to the CDC.