The Washington Post - USA (2022-04-10)

A10 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, APRIL 10 , 2022

elite — welcomed 630 people.

Local caterers say they’re not

getting any cancellations for up-

coming parties.

Just last week, philanthropist

Adrienne Arsht celebrated her

80th birthday party at her home

for 150 of her closest friends. It

was held under a huge tent; no

testing required because all

guests had been vaccinated. For-

mer Commerce secretary Wilbur

Ross had a small dinner to mark

the unveiling of his official por-

trait. British Ambassador Karen

Pierce hosted a dinner at her

residence for the White House

Historical Association to honor

scended a lot of concerns and

anxieties about what to go to and

what not to go, even in light of

Gridiron.”

Personally, Motley said he still

wears masks and decides to at-

tend parties based on the size and

guest lists. “If it’s a very large

event that exceeds a couple hun-

dred people, I tend not to go,” he

said. “If I do go, I surround myself

with people I know. That helps.

But it’s like the flu — anyone can

get this ever-evolving covid. I

take the risks knowing that the

experience is going to be fulfilling

and meaningful.”

Which brings us to the upcom-

its exhibit on the queen’s visits to

Washington.

As Pierce likes to say: “Diplo-

macy is a contact sport.” While, of

course, following the appropriate

Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention guidance and regula-

tions of the District of Columbia.

As with so many things in life,

it comes down to how much

someone wants to show up. For

many at the NGA opening, there

was little debate.

“A lot of people were not going

to miss it,” said deputy director

Eric Motley. “The historic nature

of this particular moment at the

National Gallery kind of tran-

ing White House Correspon-

dents’ Association dinner, the

glittery annual celebration of the

press, the presidency and the

idea that we really can all get

along. President Donald Trump

spurned the event every year he

was in office; Biden has not

formally announced his plans but

is expected to resume the tradi-

tion of good-natured presidential

roasting and toasting; Trevor

Noah, who just hosted the Gram-

mys, is the celebrity speaker.

Which may be why WHCA

President Steven Portnoy was

adamant last week that the show

will go on. To lower the chances

that the 2,500-person dinner will

become a superspreader event,

the organization is requiring that

every guest show proof of a

negative coronavirus test taken

the day of the April 30 dinner.

The WHCA is not requiring proof

of vaccination on the theory that

most of the people attending are

already vaccinated and boosted.

The protocols for the ancillary

events are not yet clear, but the

before- and after-parties are tra-

ditionally packed — the combina-

tion of free booze and celebrity

sighting has always proved to be

irresistible.

The dinner is still two weeks

away. Congress just left Washing-

ton for the Easter recess; the BA.

subvariant of omicron continues

to rapidly spread throughout the

country. There’s no telling which

A-list name will be next.

One person who won’t be there

is Rubenstein. “It’s jammed

packed,” he said. “That one is

always too crowded. I think they

can live without me.”

Annie Linskey contributed to this

report.

retary Tom Vilsack, Rep. Joaquin

Castro (D-Tex.), Rep. Adam B.

Schiff (D-Calif.) and Jamal Sim-

mons, communications director

for Harris.

The president’s sister, Valerie

Biden Owens, was also a guest

and had to promote her new book

virtually after she tested positive

Wednesday. (The White House

said she had not been in close

contact with her brother.) As of

Saturday evning, 67 attendees

had tested positive — more than

10 percent of the guests.

Pelosi, who was not at the

dinner, announced Thursday she

tested positive, two days after

joining President Biden and for-

mer president Barack Obama at

the White House to celebrate

record enrollment in the Afford-

able Care Act. Georgia Sen. Ra-

phael G. Warnock (D) also an-

nounced he was positive last

week.

It would be unfair to say Wash-

ington is blasé about contracting

the coronavirus — this is still a

pandemic, after all. But the mind-

set has shifted, and for the vacci-

nated a positive test is unlikely to

result in a serious illness. The

desire to get back to normal — the

fundraisers, the dinners, the

schmoozing — has trumped the

fear most people felt in the early

days of the crisis.

The past month has seen a

resumption of the kind of events

held all the time in D.C. before

the pandemic. Biden attended

the annual gala of the Ireland

Funds, although early in the eve-

ning Ireland’s prime minister re-

ceived notice of a positive test

and had to leave. The Gridiron

dinner — filled with administra-

tion officials, members of Con-

gress, and media and business

who pointed out that was the
gallery’s first big event since
March 2020. “We’re moving for-
ward and excited about it. It’s
been a long, long t wo years.”
For many people at the party,
this was a “can’t-miss” event.
Museum officials and donors se-
lected to meet directly with Har-
ris were tested beforehand, but
the original requirements for the
rest of the guests to show proof of
vaccination and wear masks
while not eating or drinking were
dropped because of low covid
case numbers in D.C. NGA Chair-
man David Rubenstein said he
had been “tested twice today and
so I know I’m okay. And I was just
vaccinated with my fourth boost-
er shot today. I try to be careful,
but there’s no guarantees in life.”
Rubenstein skipped the Grid-
iron dinner for the Duke
University of North Carolina
NCAA semifinal game in New
Orleans. His beloved Duke fell
short (“It’s unfortunate but we
lost. That’s life. On to the next
thing.”) but he was still thankful:
“I was supposed to go to Gridiron.
I’m glad I didn’t go because
everyone got sick.”
While the post-Gridiron cases
created a stir, it’s impossible to
know which asymptomatic
guests walked into the dinner
with the virus and who walked
out with it — the “brought it or
caught it” question. Proof of vac-
cination was required, but guests
closely mingled for hours in close
quarters without masks. That
being said, no one is sure how
much the dinner itself is to
blame.
Other attendees who tested
positive include Agriculture Sec-

COVID-19 FROM A

Post-Gridiron outbreak doesn’t keep gallery a ttendees from gala

OLIVER CONTRERAS FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Guests listen to Vice President Harris speak at the “Afro-Atlantic Histories” exhibition at the National

Gallery of Art on Thursday in Washington. More than 450 people attended the event.

BY ANNIE LINSKEY

The number of attendees who
have tested positive for the coro-
navirus after last weekend’s Grid-
iron dinner has risen to 67, orga-
nizers say, including Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack, who be-
came the third member of Biden’s
Cabinet in attendance who was
infected.
The new figures, released Sat-
urday evening by the organizers
of the dinner, do not include the

many staff members at the Ren-

aissance Hotel in Washington

who worked the event. Renais-

sance officials did not respond to

repeated requests for informa-

tion about the health status of

workers or how many were as-

signed to the event.

Organizers said the annual

white-tie marquee dinner, held in

person on April 2 after a two-year

hiatus, attracted 630 guests this

year.

The latest tally means more

year as official Washington has

been returning to typical work

and social patterns. It’s one of the

most prestigious Washington

events and attracts top govern-

ment officials, key White House

aides and many journalists.

The outbreak has shaken offi-

cial Washington and served as a

reminder that the virus continues

to spread even though hospital-

izations are well below the omi-

cron-fueled surge from earlier

this year.

President Biden was photo-

graphed Saturday leaving the

White House for Delaware wear-

ing a mask. He was accompanied

by his wife, first lady Jill Biden,

who was also wearing a mask.

Neither of the Bidens attended

this year’s dinner.

The president had, however,

interacted with House Speaker

Nancy Pelosi twice last week be-

fore she announced that she test-

ed positive for the virus. But the

White House said both interac-

tions were short and did not put

him at risk.

The somewhat haphazard ap-

proach to shielding the president

and others in the line of succes-

sion is worrying some health ex-

perts, who believe that a more

consistent and stringent regimen

should be followed to protect the

nearly 80-year-old president.

Still, White House aides have

acknowledged that the president

might contract the coronavirus.

“I do think it is important to

note it is possible he will test

positive for covid at some point,”

White House communications di-

rector Kate Bedingfield said Fri-

day on CNN’s “New Day.” “The

president is vaccinated and dou-

ble boosted, and so protected

from severe covid. We take every

precaution to ensure that we keep

him safe.”

than 10 percent of guests in at-

tendance have tested positive in

the aftermath of the event. Most

of the employees who worked the

dinner wore masks, but most of

the attendees did not.

Vilsack disclosed via social me-

dia Saturday that he tested posi-

tive, saying “thankfully my symp-

toms are mild.” Commerce Secre-

tary Gina Raimondo and Attor-

ney General Merrick Garland also

have announced positive tests in

recent days.

Tom DeFrank, the president of

the Gridiron Club, said in an

email that so far he’s only heard of

guests having “mild symptoms.”

All guests had to show proof of

vaccination before attending the

event.

The major dinner resumed this

At least 67 guests test

positive for coronavirus

after Gridiron Club dinner

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