(Bloomberg) -- The Washington Monument is temporarily closed after some employees had to quarantine following a visit this week by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday.
Their absence has led to a staffing shortage at the monument, Interior Department spokesman Nicholas Goodwin said by email. The monument reopened on Oct. 1 after a six-month closure forced by the pandemic. None of the National Park Service employees working at the monument have tested positive for Covid-19 since then, Goodwin said.
Before the pandemic, the site had been closed to visitors for more than three years for renovations and had only re-opened in September 2019.
