Reporters vote to slash attendance at daily briefings, citing ‘virulence’ of the Omicron variant
Washington journalists have decided that they’d rather give up face-to-face opportunities to press for answers from the White House than set aside their fears of catching Covid-19.
The White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) voted in an emergency board meeting on Sunday night to cut attendance at daily press briefings to 14 from the usual capacity of 49. The unanimous vote followed a failed effort last month to persuade White House press secretary Jen Psaki to move her briefings online amid the rapid spread of Covid-19’s Omicron strain.
“Given the virulence of the spread, medical experts have once again advised that it would be prudent to substantially reduce the number of people working in the cramped, poorly ventilated workspace that we share,” WHCA president Steve Portnoy told members in an email.
Per an email that just went out to members, the WHCA is reducing the number of available seats in the WH briefing room to 14 for the next several weeks at least.
Last month, I wrote about the growing anxiety around Omicron exposure in the briefing room: https://t.co/uEwVR6BaZS pic.twitter.com/kZsb8qTJHC
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) January 3, 2022
Although Portnoy cited Omicron’s “virulence,” multiple studies have found that the variant is less dangerous than previous strains because it doesn’t appear to attack the lungs as aggressively. The press corps reportedly urged Psaki to hold briefings online rather than in-person, but White House officials told the WHCA that current protocols – including mask-wearing and requiring either proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test – are sufficient.
