Associated Press
First lady Jill Biden tested positive for COVID-19 and was experiencing “mild symptoms,” the White House announced Tuesday. President Joe Biden continues to test negative after recently recovering from the virus but will wear a mask indoors for 10 days as a precaution.
Consequently, the First Lady’s announced visit to Orlando later this week has been canceled. She had been scheduled to arrive in Orlando Thursday, and to deliver remarks at the Warrior Games Family and Athlete Welcome Event at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World on Friday. The 2022 Department of Defense Warrior Games celebrates the resiliency and dedication of wounded, ill, and injured active duty and veteran military service members.
The Bidens have been vacationing in South Carolina since Aug. 10, and the 71-year-old first lady began experiencing symptoms on Monday. Jill Biden, like her husband, has been twice-vaccinated and twice-boosted with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. She has been prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid and will isolate at the vacation home for at least five days.
“Close contacts of the First Lady have been notified,” her communications director, Elizabeth Alexander, said in a statement “She is currently staying at a private residence in South Carolina and will return home after she receives two consecutive negative COVID tests.”
The president tested negative for the virus on Tuesday morning, the White House said, but would be wearing a mask indoors for 10 days. He plans to return to Washington on Tuesday to sign Democrats’ landmark climate change and health care bill in the afternoon, before continuing to his home in Wilmington, Delaware.
He recovered from a rebound case of the virus on Aug. 7.
“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,” the White House said. It said it would increase the president’s testing cadence and report those results.
____
Republished with permission from The Associated Press.
