Attendees of Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Dinner have started testing positive for COVID-19, after the comedic headliner Trevor Noah joked that they were attending 'the nation's most distinguished superspreader event.'
Most notably, ABC News' Jonathan Karl tested positive Monday night, Politico first reported, after being seated next to Kim Kardashian at the dinner and briefly interacting with President Joe Biden.
'He tested positive for COVID Monday night, but tested negative on Saturday afternoon before the White House Correspondents' Dinner by medically-supervised staff,' a person familiar with the matter told Politico. 'He had no symptoms on Saturday. Jon is currently isolating and participating in contact tracing.'
Guests at Saturday's White House Correspondents' Dinner are testing positive for COVID-19. Organizers had attendees take a COVID antigen test in the 24 hours leading up to the dinner
The Daily Show host Trevor Noah (left), greeting President Joe Biden, joked that the White House Correspondents' Dinner would become a superspreader. ABC News' Jonathan Karl (right) tested positive Monday after sitting next to Kim Kardashian and interacting with Biden
CNN reported Tuesday that some staff from CNN, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News and Politico have tested positive since the dinner.
Thousands of people attend the dinner, which was held in the Washington Hilton's basement-level ballroom, the traditional locale.
Pete Davidson (left) and Kim Kardashian (right) walk the red carpet at Saturday's White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. Trevor Noah joked that, 'Fauci thought it was too dangerous to come tonight. Pete Davidson thinks it's OK. 'And we all went with Pete'
Unlike the early April Gridiron dinner - where more than 10 per cent of dinner guests tested positive for COVID in its aftermath - the White House Correspondents' Association had attendees take an antigen test in the 24 hours before dinner began.
The Gridiron Club only required guests to show proof of vaccination.
WHCD attendees had to snap a picture of their negative COVID test and upload it to an app called Bindle.
Another difference between the Gridiron Dinner and WHCD is that while the Gridiron Dinner is a singular event, the WHCD is generally a whole
