White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced through social media on Monday that she tested positive for COVID after members of her household did the same. She added that her health status has pushed her to cancel traveling with President Joe Biden on his trip to Glasgow, Scotland, for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference or COP26.
Psaki took to Twitter to share that last Wednesday, she decided to withdraw from participating in the foreign trip with President Biden after a family emergency came up. That emergency was due to members of her household testing positive for COVID. The White House Press Secretary recounted how she quarantined and tested negative on Wednesday through Saturday, but tested positive on Monday.
"While I have not had close contact in person with the President or senior members of the White House staff sine Wednesday and tested negative for four days after that last contact, I am disclosing today's positive test out of an abundance of transparency," Psaki, who is 42 years old and a mother of two, shared on social media. "I last saw the President on Tuesday, when we sat outside more than six-feet apart."
The White House Press Secretary also shared that she was fully vaccinated and that she only experienced mild COVID symptoms, the Christian Post reported. Psaki added, "I will plan to return to work in person at the conclusion of the ten day quarantine following a negative rapid test, which is an additional White House requirement, beyond CDC guidance, taken out of an abundance of caution."
Meanwhile, White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday morning that President Biden had undergone a COVID test as part of a requirement to enter the U.K. for the COP26 summit. The Democratic leader tested negative for COVID and attended the summit, which launched on Sunday.
Dr. Leana Wen, former Planned Parenthood president and former Baltimore City health commissioner, told CNN on Sunday that it was "virtually impossible" for Psaki to infect President Biden. The same sentiment was shared by George Washington University professor of medicine Dr. Jonathan Reiner, who stated that there was a low likelihood that the White House Press Secretary would infect the President as their last contact was outdoors and that they undertook other safety precautions such as staying six feet away from each other and wearing face masks.
According to WTSP 10 Tampa Bay, a fully vaccinated person who tests positive for COVID, such as Psaki, is unlikely to experience severe symptoms of the disease. Dr. Jill Roberts, an epidemiologist at the University of South Florida, explained that vaccinated people who get COVID like the White House Press Secretary "could get sick, but generally we see really mild symptoms in people who have been vaccinated. You may notice a sore throat, little bit of a cough, little bit of malaise, which is just feeling tired."
Vaccinated people may also have the same viral load as an unvaccinated person, but the rate at which he or she is cleared from the virus is much faster, as per study results published in the British medical journal called The Lancet.
