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US Secretary Blinken plans press update as COVID-19 upends recent diplomatic work

A global surge in coronavirus infections wreaked havoc with Secretary of State Antony Blinken's round-the-world diplomatic journey recently.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made remarks on Tuesday covering a wide range of topics including challenges faced amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

It comes after a recent, lengthy diplomatic trip was sharply interrupted after multiple people traveling with the secretary tested positive for the coronavirus. 

Blinken's remarks stream from the U.S. State Department here:


As the Associated Press recently reported, U.S. Air Force Special Air Mission 50601 departed from Joint Base Andrews on the night of Dec. 9 with an ambitious journey ahead — an eight-day, around-the-world trip with America's top diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

But, the diplomatic mission to Britain, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand was soon after upended by the global surge in coronavirus cases. At least three members of the traveling party tested positive for COVID-19 and forced the abrupt cancellation of the last stop and a frantic re-calculation of the remaining itinerary.

The Air Force confirmed that at least two members of its crew on the plane had tested positive for COVID-19. That followed the State Department's announcement that a journalist among the traveling press corps had tested positive, which alarmed the rest of the party and resulted in the trip being cut short.

The department said Saturday that all official members of the traveling party had tested negative for the virus upon their return to Washington.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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