Yesterday it was announced that the 71 year-old American First Lady tested positive for Coronavirus and is said to be experiencing mild symptoms.
Image Credit: Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP, FILE
The news of a positive result comes after the Biden family vacationed to Kiawah Island in South Carolina. Jill Biden has contracted the virus a week after the President finished being in quarantine for his own rebound case. The President was first reported to have come down with the virus on July 21st, but tested positive once again on July 30th, which is described to be a common experience by some Paxlovid patients. The President concluded his isolation last week after taking consecutive negative tests.
The Whitehouse press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre disclosed that President Biden still has to wear a mask for ten days indoors when in immediate proximity to others. This is due to the President being in close contact with the First Lady, based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Jean-Pierre also stated that: “We will also increase the president’s testing cadence and report those results.” The President is scheduled on Tuesday to return to Washington to sign milestone climate change and healthcare bills, before going back to home in Wilmington, Delaware.
On Tuesday afternoon while boarding Air Force One at Charleston Air Force Base, the President gave a thumbs up to journalists after they questioned him on the First Lady’s condition.
Image Credit: Chip Somodevilla
Statement From The First Lady’s Communications Director
The First Lady’s Communications Director, Elizabeth Alexander, released a statement on Jill Biden’s current condition: “After testing negative for COVID-19 on Monday during her regular testing cadence, the First Lady began to develop cold-like symptoms late in the evening.”
“She tested negative again on a rapid antigen test, but a PCR test came back positive. The First Lady is double-vaccinated, twice boosted, and only experiencing mild symptoms. She has been prescribed a course of Paxlovid and, following CDC guidance, will isolate from others for at least five days. Close contacts of the First Lady have been notified,” Alexander added.
She concluded the statement by stating that Jill Biden “is currently staying at a private residence in South Carolina and will return home after she receives two consecutive negative COVID tests.”
Published by HOLR Magazine.