Fed Chairman Powell tests positive for COVID-19 while working from home

(Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday and is currently working from home, a Fed spokesman said in an emailed statement.

“Chairman Powell tested positive for COVID-19 late yesterday and is experiencing symptoms.” He is working from home and staying away from others, the statement said, following guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The announcement follows a trip to Europe this week, with Powell, 71, appearing on stage at an event with Dutch central bank President Klaas Knot in Amsterdam on Tuesday.

Powell last tested positive for Covid in January 2023. There was little reaction in financial markets following the Fed’s announcement of Powell’s latest COVID-19 infection. The Fed’s next scheduled policy meeting isn’t until June 11-12.

Powell, who was scheduled to deliver his speech in person at Georgetown Law School on Sunday, will now deliver it via

pre-recorded video, the statement said.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir and Lindsay Dunsmuir, Editing by Franklin Paul and Chizu Nomiyama)