White House press secretary Jen Psaki tested positive for COVID-19 and will quarantine for 10 days, the White House announced Sunday.
Psaki said she is fully vaccinated and has experienced only mild symptoms, but plans to work remotely until 10 days after her first negative test, the White House told reporters. Psaki released a statement revealing that she had decided to skip President Joe Biden’s overseas trip on Friday due to her family members testing positive for the virus. Psaki has a husband and two young children, though she did not clarify who in her family tested positive. (RELATED: More Texas Democrats Who Fled State Test Positive For COVID)
Sharing full statement and grateful I am vaccinated and for the amazing Biden team pic.twitter.com/QDokXo47dK
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) October 31, 2021
“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,” Psaki said in a statement provided by the White House. “I last saw the President on Tuesday, when we sat outside more than six-feet apart, and wore masks.”
Psaki is the latest in a series of White House officials to contract breakthrough cases of COVID-19. Psaki came under fire in July after she admitted that the White House had seen previous breakthrough cases but had not disclosed them to the public.
Contracting COVID-19 while vaccinated is rare, but possible, and such cases are typically far less severe than they might have been had the individual not been vaccinated.
“Thanks to the vaccine, I have only experienced mild symptoms which has enabled me to continue working from home,” Psaki said. “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.”
Biden is currently overseas conducting a series of meetings with heads of state in Rome, Glasgow and elsewhere in Europe. He is scheduled to return Wednesday.