From a Michael Schaffer Capital City column on politico.com headlined “Washington Stages Its Own 1970s Disaster Movie”:

“I feeel deeply ashamed,” my friend said. The hallway was narrow. The ceiling was low. The line was meandering toward the door to the ballroom, carrying 2,600 revelers and an unknown number of viral spores into a windowless space crammed with tables and chairs and, eventually, the president of the United States.

From POLITICO Playbook: Covid’s comeback bursts the D.C. bubble:

There’s no denying it: Covid is rocking Washington right now. Days after Saturday’s annual Gridiron Club dinner, multiple attendees of the boujee 600-seat confab have come down with it — including Commerce Secretary GINA RAIMONDO, A.G. MERRICK GARLAND and Reps. ADAM SCHIFF (D-Calif.) and JOAQUIN CASTRO (D-Texas).

By Wednesday afternoon, another high-profile attendee — JAMAL SIMMONS, comms director to VP KAMALA HARRIS — revealed that he, too, tested positive. That test result came just a day after he shook former President BARACK OBAMA’s hand at the White House’s Obamacare party, where President JOE BIDEN and 200 other high-level officials hobnobbed maskless while celebrating the health care law.