LOS ANGELES (CNS) — Mayor Eric Garcetti is experiencing mild symptoms Thursday, his office said, after testing positive for COVID-19 while in Glasgow, Scotland, for the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
In accordance with the UN's guidelines for the conference, Garcetti conducted self-administered nasal swab tests frequently throughout the trip, which began on Monday, and tested negative, including receiving negative results twice on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the mayor and his staff took PCR tests to get back into the United States, and Garcetti's positive test result was received on Wednesday.
The mayor hadn't developed symptoms Wednesday, and said during an interview with a local media station, "I'm feeling great, which means I think either I got a false-positive at best, or at worst, as a doubly vaccinated person, symptoms are extremely mild."
His office said Thursday afternoon that he was experiencing mild symptoms and is resting in his hotel room. The Los Angeles Times reported, based on an email that the mayor sent his staff, that Garcetti has a fever and head cold symptoms. The Times also reported that his tentative return date to Los Angeles is Nov. 13.
Garcetti told local media he plans to keep working during isolation, although he will "have to adjust my sleeping to do so."
"I have no plans to kick back," he said. "I think my Netflix queue will stay just as long as it is today."
On Monday, the mayor announced in front of heads of state that C40 Cities, a climate coalition of 97 cities — which Garcetti chairs — received pledges from more than 1,000 cities and local governments to join the coalition's Race to Zero.
The mayor had spent Monday and Tuesday with the C40 delegation, which includes mayors from 12 international cities within the coalition, including mayors of Seattle and Phoenix and Athens, Greece; Oslo, Norway; Paris; and Stockholm, among other international cities.
Garcetti and the rest of the delegation took a 4 1/2-hour train ride from London's Euston Station to Glasgow's Central Station on Monday.
In Glasgow, Garcetti was in close contact with London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who was named to succeed Garcetti as chair of C40 Cities, as well as former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is serving as UN Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions and Global Ambassador for the Race to Zero and Race To Resilience campaigns.
Garcetti told KNX Newsradio Wednesday afternoon that he did not have contact during the trip with President Joe Biden — who has appointed the mayor to be the next ambassador to India. He said that all attendees of the UN Climate Change Conference are vaccinated.