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COVID-19
The Associated Press
Washington

White House press secretary Psaki says she has COVID-19

White House press secretary Jen Psaki
White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
Susan Walsh | AP

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Updated: 5:45 p.m.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday she has contracted COVID-19.

Psaki was not traveling with President Joe Biden, who was in Rome this weekend for the Group of 20 summit and is headed to Glasgow, Scotland, on Monday for a U.N. climate summit.

Psaki, 42, had planned to travel with the president but scrapped the trip just as he was set to depart for Europe after learning that members of her household had tested positive for COVID-19.

“Since then, I have quarantined and tested negative (via PCR) for COVID on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday," Psaki said in a statement. “However, today, I tested positive for COVID."

She added that she was last in contact with Biden on Tuesday, and the two sat more than 6 feet apart and wore masks.

Psaki wrote that “thanks to the vaccine, I have only experienced mild symptoms which has enabled me to continue working from home.”

“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.

White House staff and others traveling with the president have been undergoing daily tests for COVID-19 since before departing Washington and are all fully vaccinated. Many officials have also received booster shots, due to the close-quarters environment and frequent travel associated with their work.

Biden got his COVID-19 booster on Sept 27, shortly after federal regulators approved the third dose for many Americans.

Biden has been accompanied on the trip by principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Psaki said she would return to work in person at the conclusion of a 10-day quarantine and following a negative rapid test.

Psaki is not the first White House press secretary to get COVID. During the Trump administration, before vaccines were available, her predecessor Kayleigh McEnany tested positive, as did the president, first lady, and many White House officials and aides.

Related links

NPR contributed to this report.