First Lady Jill Biden has tested positive in a rebound coronavirus case.
Biden’s antigen test came out positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday, her deputy communications director Kelsey Donohue told CNN.
The first lady first contracted the virus on August 15 while on vacation in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. At the time, she experienced ‘cold-like symptoms’ and took the antiviral drug Paxlovid, Donohue said. She is fully vaccinated and twice boosted.
Paxlovid users can have rebound cases after testing negative for a few days. A rebound reinfection for people who have used Paxlovid can happen between two and eight days after the initial recovery, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Her last negative test was on Tuesday.
‘The First Lady has experienced no reemergence of symptoms, and will remain in Delaware where she has reinitiated isolation procedures,’ stated Donohue. ‘The White House Medical Unit has conducted contact tracing and close contacts have been notified.’
President Joe Biden tested negative for the virus on Wednesday, a White House official told ABC News.
He ‘will mask for 10 days when indoors and in close proximity to others,’ the official said.
‘We will also keep the President’s testing cadence increased and continue to report those results.’
The first lady and president have now both had rebound coronavirus cases. The president took Paxlovid in July and tested negative, before having positive results.
The first lady will stay at their family beach home in Delaware until she tests negative twice, Donohue said.
Meanwhile, the president ended his vacation and left Rehoboth Beach for the White House on Wednesday morning. The couple spent two weeks off at beaches in South Carolina and Delaware.
The first lady was scheduled to travel with her husband on Thursday to a Democratic National Committee function in Maryland but will instead remain in isolation.
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