WASHINGTON (Fwrd Axis) — White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has tested positive for coronavirus after members of her family did, she said in a statement on Sunday.
Psaki was dropped off of President Joe Biden’s international trip shortly before he departed the country last week. She said she was revealing her diagnosis as part of “an abundance of transparency”.
On Wednesday, in coordination with senior leadership at the White House and the medical team, I made the decision not to travel on the foreign trip with the President due to a family emergency, which was members of my household testing positive for COVID-19,” Psaki said in a statement. “Since then, I have quarantined and tested negative (via PCR) for COVID on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.”
Psaki said she last saw Biden on Tuesday and they both were outside and six feet apart.
“However, today, I tested positive for COVID,” she continued. “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.”
Principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre took Psaki’s place on the trip.
Psaki is fully vaccinated and says she is only experiencing mild symptoms. She will be working from home and will only return to work following a 10-day quarantine and a negative rapid test, a requirement by the White House.
“Thanks to the vaccine, I have only experienced mild symptoms which have enabled me to continue working from home,” she said.
