White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki will no longer travel with President Joe Biden to Europe this week after testing positive for Wuhan coronavirus.
"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. I had two socially-distanced meetings with the President yesterday, and the President is not considered a close contact as defined by CDC guidance. I am sharing the news of my positive test today out of an abundance of transparency," Psaki released in a statement Tuesday afternoon. "The President tested negative today via PCR test."
"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," she continued.
Psaki also contracted the virus in October while fully vaccinated.
President Biden is scheduled to depart the White House Wednesday afternoon for a trip to Brussels where he will meet with NATO partners about Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine. He will then travel to Poland to see the refugee crisis, which gets worse by the day.
"This week, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will travel to Poland following his meetings in Brussels, Belgium with our NATO Allies, G7 Leaders, and European Union Leaders to discuss international efforts to support Ukraine and impose severe and unprecedented costs on Russia for its invasion. On Friday, March 25, President Biden will travel to Warsaw, Poland, where he will hold a bilateral meeting with President Andrzej Duda. The President will 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," the White House detailed earlier this week.