Eric Garcetti, mayor of Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES, Nov 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday while attending the U.N. climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, an event that has drawn world leaders and tens of thousands of other people from around the world.
“He is feeling good and isolating in his hotel room,” tweeted the mayor’s office, adding that Garcetti is fully vaccinated.
“It’s a real reminder that when you let your guard down, even when you follow everything right … there’s still a chance with breakthroughs, which is why the vaccine is so important,” Garcetti told KABC-TV, a station of the ABC television network, during a Zoom interview.
KABC reports the mayor is attending the conference with seven staff members. A spokesperson for the mayor’s office tells NPR that Garcetti was the only one from this office who tested positive for COVID-19.
Garcetti arrived in Glassgow Monday on a train with other mayors from around the world, including from London, Paris, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Freetown, Sierra Leone. Garcetti has been among countless political and science leaders giving speeches, appearing on panels, posing for group photos and conferring with others at the climate talks. Like many other participants, Garcetti varied between wearing a mask and not, photos from the summit show.
Summit spokesman Alexander Saier declined comment, saying officials were not speaking on individual cases.
In accordance with the UN guidelines for the conference, Garcetti conducted self-administered nasal swab tests frequently throughout the trip and tested negative, including receiving negative results twice.
On Tuesday, the mayor and his staff took PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests to get back into the United States, and Garcetti’s positive test result was received on Wednesday, KABC-TV reported.
President Joe Biden nominated Garcetti as ambassador to India and he is awaiting confirmation in the Senate.
Garcetti’s 9-year-old daughter contracted coronavirus last December, when Los Angeles was experiencing its worst surge. Garcetti and his wife never got it but were forced to quarantine with their daughter.
The city of Los Angeles is the seat of Los Angeles County, which is the nation’s most populous county with around 10 million residents. Once a pandemic epicenter, the county’s case rates have dropped dramatically since late August. However, local public health officials noted earlier this week that transmission is still “substantial” in the county.
Los Angeles public health officials on Wednesday confirmed 22 new deaths and 1,605 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the countywide counts to 26,683 and 1,496,593 respectively. — NNN-AGENCIES