White House press secretary Jen Psaki says she has COVID-19
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday that she had tested positive for COVID-19, days after pulling out of the president's overseas trip due to a family emergency. Psaki is vaccinated, and said she is only experiencing mild symptoms.
Psaki said in a statement on Sunday that emergency was "members of my household testing positive for COVID-19."
"Since then, I have quarantined and tested negative (via PCR) for COVID on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday," Psaki said. "However, today, I tested positive for COVID. While I have not had close contact in person with the president or senior members of the White House staff since Wednesday — and tested negative for four days after that last contact — I am disclosing today's positive test out of an abundance of transparency. I last saw the president on Tuesday, when we sat outside more than six feet apart, and wore masks."
Psaki said she planned to return to work in person after quarantining for 10 days following a negative rapid test, which she said is the White House requirement.
Deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who is accompanying President Biden on his current trip to Europe, told reporters Monday that he tested negative for COVID-19 on Sunday. She said the president wasn't tested because of Psaki — he was tested because it was part of a requirement to enter the U.K.
Mr. Biden, 78, received the two-dose Pfizer vaccine in December and January, and received his booster shot on September 27.