(NewsNation) — Just a week after President Joe Biden left his COVID-19 isolation, the Office of the First Lady released a statement Tuesday revealing that first lady Jill Biden has tested positive for the coronavirus.
The release stated that the first lady tested negative on Monday, but developed cold-like symptoms later in the evening. She took new tests: a rapid antigen test came back negative, but a PCR test came back positive for the illness.
“The First Lady is double-vaccinated, twice boosted, and only experiencing mild symptoms,” the First Lady’s Communications Director Elizabeth Alexander wrote. “She has been prescribed a course of Paxlovid and, following CDC guidance, will isolate from others for at least five days.”
The release also stated Biden’s close contacts have been notified, and she is currently staying at a private residence in South Carolina. She will not be able to return home until she tests negative with two consecutive tests.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted Tuesday that the president has tested negative for COVID-19 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,” Jean-Pierre wrote. The president will also increase his testing cadence in response to his wife’s positive result.
Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 for the first time four weeks ago, and then tested positive again for a rare “rebound” case two weeks ago.
