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FEMA Employee Working On Coronavirus Response Tests Positive For COVID-19

In this 2017 file photo, the inside of the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters is seen in Washington, D.C.
Saul Loeb
/
AFP via Getty Images
In this 2017 file photo, the inside of the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters is seen in Washington, D.C.

An employee of the Federal Emergency Management Agency working on coronavirus response efforts at the agency's Washington headquarters has tested positive for the virus.

The employee tested positive on Monday. FEMA says it's now disinfecting its workspace.

The employee did not have prolonged contact with people on the White House coronavirus task force, the agency said in a statement.

"At no time did this individual, or any others known to have contact with them, come within six feet of any other Task Force principal for a prolonged period of time," the statement said. "Additionally, all areas visited by Task Force members were disinfected prior to their visits."

Last month President Trump announced that FEMA, which is best known for coordinating responses with state and local governments to natural disasters, was "fully engaged at the highest levels" in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Ayesha Rascoe is a White House correspondent for NPR. She is currently covering her third presidential administration. Rascoe's White House coverage has included a number of high profile foreign trips, including President Trump's 2019 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, and President Obama's final NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland in 2016. As a part of the White House team, she's also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast.