An unnamed White House aid who joined President Joseph R. Biden Jr. for the G20 in Italy last week and the COP26 climate change conference in Scotland this week has tested positive for the coronavirus, the White House has confirmed.
A White House official said the aid was a member of President Biden’s traveling party who tested positive through a “lateral flow test on Tuesday.”
The official said “additional tests to date have been inconclusive,” adding that the individual did not have close contact with the President and is not exhibiting any symptoms.
“This person has remained in Scotland to complete the quarantine period with the support of the Administration,” the official said in one statement to The Post. The story was first reported by Bloomberg.
The official added that “CDC guidance advises that any vaccinated person who is in close contact should monitor for nay symptoms and test 5-7 days after exposure, but does not need to change any behaviors if asymptomatic.”
“Out of an abundance of caution, the traveling team took steps beyond CDC protocols, including having a few staff members, who had close contact with the person who tested positive, travel separately from the President back to the United States. All close contacts tested negative via PCR upon arrival in the United States. Additional, the President tested negative on Tuesday,” the official said.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki who tested positive for the coronavirus last week has been quarantined and is expected to return to work next week.
Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa. Simon covers President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington D.C. and New York City.