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Vice President Kamala Harris is continuing her visit to the Los Angeles area on Sunday despite several of her staff having been in close contact with an advance team member who later tested positive for COVID-19.
“On Friday evening, while driving from the Los Angeles airport to the hotel in Los Angeles, several members of the Vice President’s staff came into close contact with a forward team member who has since tested positive for the COVID,” according to a White House official quoted by reporter Rob Crilly on Saturday.
“No member of the media was in close contact with this individual and the Vice President was not in close contact with this individual. Staff members will not be traveling with the Vice President on Monday. , but staff members who were close contacts are not going to travel with her.
Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, have been in Los Angeles since late Friday afternoon for a weekend at their Brentwood home.
Shortly after arriving, Harris joined Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Governor Gavin Newsom in San Bernardino for a briefing on state and federal efforts to prevent and mitigate wildfires.
At a news conference at the U.S. Forest Service’s Del Rosa Firehouse in San Bernardino, she announced plans for the federal government to provide California with $600 million to help the state recover from a a destructive wildfire season and prepare for the same in the future. .
“It’s about recognizing that we cannot, as a government or as a society or as concerned people, react only in reaction to a moment of harm or danger,” Harris said. “We also need to be able to use technology, common sense and the expertise of people on the ground to understand that we have the tools to predict these wildfires in advance.”
The money is part of a $1.3 billion set aside from the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill approved by the US Congress last year to help local communities clean up hazardous materials, restoring forests and repairing infrastructure damaged by forest fires.
“Since we know climate change is going to increase the likelihood of these mega wildfires here in California and the western United States,” Harris said, “it’s important to start thinking ahead and come out in front of these crises rather than just being in a reactive pose.
While Harris was in San Bernardino on Friday, Emhoff participated in a service activity with AmeriCorps at a Los Angeles-area food bank where he spoke with volunteers and helped pack bags of food before attending a private meeting with local legal aid providers.
The couple have no further public appearances scheduled for the remainder of their weekend in Southland. They are scheduled to return to Washington, DC on Monday.
Harris continues LA visit despite staff contact with COVID-positive colleague was last modified: January 23, 2022 through
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