Jen Psaki will return to the White House briefing room on Friday, 13 days after revealing she had tested positive for COVID despite b...
Jen Psaki will return to the White House briefing room on Friday, 13 days after revealing she had tested positive for COVID despite being vaccinated, the White House announced Thursday evening.
It will be her first press briefing since October 27. On President Joe Biden's daily schedule for Friday, Psaki is listed as giving the daily press briefing, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT.
Her top deputy, Karine Jean-Pierre, had been filling in for her while she recovered from the illness.
When she announced her positive test for COVID-19, Psaki said she would return to the White House after a 10-day quarantine and a negative rapid test result.
Psaki, 42, had dropped out of Biden's trip to Europe for the G20 and COP26, citing a family emergency. She later revealed a positive COVID diagnosis.
Jen Psaki will return to the White House briefing room on Friday, 13 days after revealing she had tested positive for COVID despite being vaccinated - she is seen above at her last press briefing on October 27
Psaki's top deputy, Karine Jean-Pierre, had been filling in for her
On Sunday, October 31, as Biden was finishing up his his meetings with world leaders in Rome, Psaki announced she tested positive for COVID even after having two doses of the vaccine.
She was the most visible and senior member of the Biden administration to have publicly announced she had tested positive.
'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,' she said in a statement.
'I last saw the president on Tuesday, when we sat outside more than six-feet apart, and wore masks,' she said.
She worked from home while recovering from the illness and said her symptoms were mild.
'Thanks to the vaccine, I have only experienced mild symptoms which has enabled me to continue working from home,' she said.
'I will plan to return to work in person at the conclusion of the ten day quarantine following a negative rapid test, which is an additional White House requirement, beyond CDC guidance, taken out of an abundance of caution,' she noted at the time.
Biden tested negative for COVID on Sunday, the same day Psaki announced she was positive for the disease, as he prepared to depart Italy for the next leg of his five-day trip to Europe.
Jean-Pierre said the PCR test was a routine test taken as part of entry requirements for attendance at the COP26 climate conference in Scotland, which Biden was traveling to after the G20 meeting in Rome.
Jean-Pierre also said Psaki's positive test had not had an impact on the rest of the White House.
'Fortunately her symptoms are mild,' she said.
'We can we cannot wait to have our her back, to have all of us back together safely and are sending the very best to Jen and her family,' she added.
Psaki is seen here with Jean-Pierre and other members of the press team at the White House
Psaki issued on her COVID test result
Senior White House staff are vaccinated but regularly take COVID tests out of precaution and because of their proximity to the president.
Biden is also vaccinated and got his booster shot on Sept 27, shortly after federal regulators approved the third dose for the elderly and those at high risk.
A White House staffer traveling with Biden to Scotland for COP26 also tested positive for COVID and remained in that country to isolate. Travelers with Biden on his five-day trip to Rome and Scotland were tested daily.
Biden tested negative for the virus on Tuesday before his return to the States. A negative COVID test is required for re-entry into the U.S. after travel abroad.
Break through COVID cases are rare but can happen. The White House discloses cases of anyone who has close contact with the president, first lady, vice president or second gentleman.
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