Blinken cuts short Asia trip due to COVID case in delegation
Dec 15, 2021
Washington [US], December 15 : US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday called off his Asia Tour midway after reports of a COVID-19 positive case in his travelling delegation.
Blinken was scheduled to visit Thailand, for the final stop of his Asia tour. However, he was forced to call off his visit, the US State Department said.
US media reports said that a press corps member has tested positive for COVID-19.
"Secretary of State Antony J Blinken spoke today with the Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai. The Secretary expressed his deep regret to the Foreign Minister that he would not be able to visit Bangkok this week," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, he was quoted by Sputnik.
He explained that, in order to mitigate the risk of the spread of COVID-19 and to prioritise the health and safety of the U.S. travelling party and those they would otherwise come into contact with, the Secretary would be returning to Washington, D.C. out of an abundance of caution," he added.
During the tour, the top US diplomat visited Indonesia and Malaysia.
