First Lady Jill Biden Tests Positive For COVID-19

First lady Jill Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 while vacationing in South Carolina with her family, including President Biden. 

Elizabeth Alexander, the first lady's communications director, announced the positive test, saying she will remain where she is until she receives two negative COVID-19 tests. She is experiencing mild symptoms. The first lady's positive test comes not long after the president experienced his own bout with COVID-19. The president has tested negative but is considered a close contact of the first lady, and will follow Centers for Disease Control guidance accordingly, the White House says. 

"After testing negative for COVID-19 on Monday during her regular testing cadence, the First Lady began to develop cold-like symptoms late in the evening," Alexander said in a statement. "She tested negative again on a rapid antigen test, but a PCR test came back positive. The First Lady is double-vaccinated, twice boosted, and only experiencing mild symptoms. She has been prescribed a course of Paxlovid and, following CDC guidance, will isolate from others for at least five days. Close contacts of the First Lady have been notified. She is currently staying at a private residence in South Carolina and will return home after she receives two consecutive negative COVID tests."

The president is scheduled to return to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to sign the Inflation Reduction Act. It's unclear how the first lady's positive test will affect the president's scheduled trip to Delaware this week. 

The White House says the president will mask for 10 days when indoors and in close proximity to others, and his testing cadence will increase. 

First published on August 16, 2022 / 9:37 AM

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