The White House announced on Tuesday (Aug. 16) that First Lady Jill Biden tested positive for COVID-19. She’s experiencing “mild symptoms,” per the statement. Jill was vacationing with President Joe Biden in South Carolina when she began exhibiting coronavirus symptoms. Jill has already been treated with the antiviral drug Paxlovid and will isolate in the vacation home for at least five days.
Jill’s Communications Director Elizabeth Alexander said in a statement, “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 71-year-old is double vaccinated and received the booster shot twice. “She has been prescribed a course of Paxlovid and, following CDC guidance, will isolate from others for at least five days,” Alexander added.
Joe tested negative for the virus on Tuesday, according to the White House. But he will follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention‘s guidance and wear a mask indoors for 10 days. The president recently recovered from a back-to-back COVID diagnosis. He was scheduled to return to Washington D.C. after signing the Inflation Reduction Act into law. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also released a statement after Joe’s antigen test returned negative. She said, “Consistent with CDC guidance because he is a close contact of the first lady, he will mask for 10 days when indoors and in close proximity to others. We will also increase the president’s testing cadence and report those results.”
Joe tested positive for COVID last month. His physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor also prescribed Paxlovid to him. After five days of isolation, he returned to the Oval Office but tested positive again nine days later. Joe’s isolation ended on Aug. 7.