U.S. First Lady Jill Biden has tested positive for the coronavirus, her office announced Tuesday.
The diagnosis comes after her husband, President Joe Biden, recently tested positive for COVID-19 twice.
“The First Lady is double-vaccinated, twice boosted, and only experiencing mild symptoms,” her communications director, Elizabeth Alexander, said in a statement. “She has been prescribed a course of Paxlovid and, following CDC guidance, will isolate from others for at least five days.”
The positive test comes after the 71-year-old “began to develop cold-like symptoms” late Monday night, according to her office.
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden exit Marine One at Charleston Executive Airport in South Carolina on Aug. 10. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
“She tested negative again on a rapid antigen test, but a PCR test came back positive,” Alexander added.
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Jill Biden is “currently staying at a private residence in South Carolina and will return home after she receives two consecutive negative COVID tests,” Alexander also said.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden talk with Gov. Andy Beshear while they view flood damage in Lost Creek, Kentucky, on Aug. 8. (AP/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden, 79, first tested positive for the coronavirus on July 21, before testing negative for a few days and then testing positive again on July 30 in what was described by his doctor as a “rebound” case.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday in the wake of the announcement that “the president tested negative for COVID this morning on an antigen test.
“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,” she added. “We will also increase the president’s testing cadence and report those results.”
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