White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says she will not accompany President Joe Biden on a trip to Europe after testing positive for COVID-19.
Psaki says she had two "socially distanced meetings" with the president on Monday and that Biden is not considered a close contact. She added that she's experiencing "mild" symptoms.
"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," Psaki said.
Today, in preparation for travel to Europe, I took a PCR test this morning. That test came back positive, which means I will be adhering to CDC guidance and no longer be traveling on the President’s trip to Europe.
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) March 22, 2022
Thanks to the vaccine, I have only experienced mild symptoms. 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.
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) March 22, 2022
Psaki previously contracted COVID-19 in October. At the time of her positive test, Biden was traveling in Europe for a G20 summit in Rome and a U.N. climate summit in Scotland. Psaki decided not to attend the trip after several White House staffers tested positive for the virus.
Biden will travel to Europe later this week to attend a NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday, where leaders will discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine. He'll then travel to Poland to meet with President Andrzej Duda to "discuss how the United States, alongside our Allies and partners, is responding to the humanitarian and human rights crisis that Russia's unjustified and unprovoked war on Ukraine has created."
