KIAWAH ISLAND, South Carolina – United States First Lady Jill Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 and has “mild symptoms,” the White House reported Tuesday.
For his part, President Joe Biden continues to test negative after recently recovering from the disease, but as a precaution he will wear a mask indoors for 10 days.
The Bidens have been on vacation in South Carolina since August 10, and the 71-year-old first lady began showing symptoms on Monday.
Jill Biden, like her husband, received two basic doses of the Pfizer vaccine and two booster doses. She will be taking the antiviral drug Paxlovid and will be isolated in the vacation home for at least five days.
“Close contacts of the first lady have already been notified,” wrote her director of communications Elizabeth Alexander in a press release. “Currently, she is staying at a private residence in South Carolina and will return home when she has had two consecutive negative tests.”
The president, who tested negative for the virus on Tuesday morning, is scheduled to return to Washington the same day to sign legislation on measures to combat climate change and make health care more accessible in the afternoon before continuing his trip home. in Wilmington, Del.
The president recovered from a second outbreak of the virus on August 7.
“Following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and because he is a close contact of the first lady, the president will wear a mask when he is indoors or meeting with others,” the White House said. .
Jill Biden was going to travel to Florida later this week, but she canceled her plans. She was to participate in events at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando on Thursday and Friday in support of an assistance program for family members of members of the military.