White house press secretary tests positive for the coronavirus

By Seung Min Kim,

ROME — White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday that she has tested positive for the coronavirus but that she is experiencing only “mild symptoms.”

Psaki had been scheduled to travel with President Biden on his overseas trip to Italy and Scotland but dropped out just before Air Force One took off from Joint Base Andrews on Thursday, citing a “family emergency.” The emergency was that members of her household had tested positive for the coronavirus, she said.

Psaki said she received a negative result for the virus on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday but tested positive on Sunday, which she was disclosing “out of an abundance of transparency.”

Psaki said that she has not been in close contact with White House aides since Wednesday and that she last saw Biden on Tuesday, when they sat outside, masked and more than six feet apart.

“Thanks to the vaccine, I have only experienced mild symptoms, which has enabled me to continue working from home,” Psaki said, adding that she will return to work in person at the White House after her 10-day isolation period ends and when she tests negative.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House principal deputy press secretary, replaced Psaki on the trip.