March 22 (UPI) — White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced Tuesday that she tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time in five months.
Psaki said she took a polymerase chain reaction test Tuesday morning in preparation for traveling with President Joe Biden to Europe. Her positive test means she’ll no longer be traveling with Biden, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.
“Thanks to the vaccine, I have only experienced mild symptoms,” Psaki said in a statement. “In alignment with White House COVID-19 protocols, I will work from home and plan to return to work in person at the conclusion of a five-day isolation period and a negative test.”
She said she had two socially distanced meetings with Biden on Monday and he tested negative for the virus via a PCR test Tuesday morning.
This is the second time a positive COVID-19 test has sidelined Psaki from one of Biden’s trips to Europe. In late October, she announced she tested positive for the novel coronavirus after members of her household came down with the virus.
Biden traveled to Rome on Oct. 28 for a Group of 20 summit and meeting with Pope Francis.
Biden is expected to travel to Brussels for a NATO summit Thursday, before heading Friday to Poland to speak with President Andrzej Duda. The Russian invasion of Ukraine will be the subject of both meetings.
