![Blinken ends Southeast Asia trip early after journalist tests positive for COVID-19](https://cbsnews2.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2021/12/15/ba75ee29-3b5f-47ca-9fab-14ca22e75269/thumbnail/1200x630/7ea649b9315ecbf41e4455f5c1d08714/gettyimages-1237223366.jpg)
Blinken ends Southeast Asia trip early after journalist tests positive for COVID-19
CBSN
Washington — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is cutting short a three-country swing through Southeast Asia after a member of the press traveling with the secretary tested positive for COVID-19, the State Department said Wednesday.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken's delegation learned of the positive COVID-19 test through routine PCR testing on Wednesday morning upon arriving in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The person, an unidentified journalist traveling with Blinken, tested negative during a previous stop in Jakarta and will remain in isolation.
The secretary of state and senior staff all tested negative for COVID-19 after getting tested in Kuala Lumpur, Price said.
![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250216030556.jpg)
This story previously aired on Feb. 10, 2024. It was updated on Feb. 15, 2025. AMIE HARWICK (video): You can seek therapy to address an issue like depression, anxiety, a breakup. You can also seek therapy to be a better you! GARETH PURSEHOUSE (voicemail): I have so much I need to say. Please give me a chance to just say it. … Please (crying) please.
![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250216003423.jpg)
Signaling a major shift in civil rights enforcement, the federal agency that enforces workplace anti-discrimination laws has moved to dismiss six of its own cases on behalf of workers alleging gender identity discrimination, arguing that the cases now conflict with President Donald Trump's recent executive order, court documents say.