WHITE HOUSE Press Secretary Jen Psaki has tested positive for Covid-19 only days after being with President Joe Biden.
In a statement, Ms Psaki said she was last with the president on Tuesday, where they were six feet apart and wearing masks.
After finding out that a family member had contracted the virus, she decided not to travel to Rome with him for the G20 summit.
While initially receiving a negative test result, a subsequent test came back positive.
She said that she was disclosing her positive Covid-19 result out of “an abundance of transparency”, and that “thanks to the vaccine” she is only experiencing “mild symptoms”.
A number of medical experts told CNN that it was unlikely that Psaki had infected Biden with Covid-19.
"Based on the timeline of Ms. Psaki's testing negative for multiple days following her last encounter with President Biden (which was also outside and masked, therefore very low risk in and of itself)," said Dr. Leana Wen, a CNN medical analyst.
President Biden also received a Covid-19 booster shot last month.
Ms Psaki plans to return to the White House once she has completed a ten-day period of quarantine following a negative test.
She said: "I will plan to return to work in person at the conclusion of the ten day quarantine following a negative rapid test, which is an additional White House requirement, beyond CDC guidance, taken out of an abundance of caution."
