Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti confirmed he tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday in a live interview with KNX 1070 Newsradio.
The mayor, who is fully vaccinated, said he was "genuinely feeling very good" while quarantining in his hotel room. Garcetti received his first dose of the Moderna vaccine in January. He received a second shot several weeks later but has not yet been given a booster shot.
Currently, the L.A. mayor is overseas, attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. Now, however, the elected official is isolated in his hotel room.
Garcetti told KNX he hoped the test result was a false positive. While in Glasgow, fully vaccinated attendees have been tested daily. Those, however, were rapid antigen tests. After taking a PCR test four days ago to return to the United States, the mayor tested positive. He said he had not lost his sense of smell or taste.
"I can feel a little bit of mild symptoms - maybe a slightly runny nose, little bit of a scratchy throat, but I didn't know if that was just the jet lag or maybe it is true that it's a COVID breakthrough," Garcetti said.
The Mayor said he had been looking forward to getting a Moderna booster shot in the next few weeks, and while he realizes some may question vaccines since he's developed a breakthrough case, he reminded others that a COVID vaccine helps prevent serious illness and death.
"We know the facts...you're 11 times more likely to die from a COVID case right now if you're unvaccinated," Garcetti said live on KNX Wednesday afternoon. "How many more people do we have to lose before we say, 'Okay, we know this works'?"
This is the second time Garcetti has been forced to isolate. Last December he went into quarantine for 10 days after his 9-year-old daughter tested positive for the coronavirus. He said her symptoms were mild at the time, and his wife tested negative.
President Joe Biden nominated Mayor Garcetti to serve as the U.S. ambassador to India in July. Many had speculated whether Garcetti would play a role in the Biden administration after serving on his vice-presidential selection panel during the 2020 campaign.
Garcetti said he had not spent anytime with the president on his current trip to the UN Summit.
This is a developing story.
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