White House press secretary Jen Psaki has Covid-19, but Joe Biden tests negative

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that she is positive again for Covid-19 and would not accompany President Joe Biden to Europe this week for urgent meetings with world counterparts on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Biden tested negative on Tuesday, she said.

Psaki’s reinfection follows recent positive tests for Vice-President Kamala Harris’ husband and Ireland’s prime minister, who was in the nation’s capital last week for a series of in-person celebrations of St Patrick’s Day with Biden and other officials.

The scares happened as the Biden administration tries to help the United States ease back into its pre-pandemic patterns, even as cases climb in Europe due to a new, more contagious variant of the Omicron strain of the coronavirus.

Psaki tweeted that she took a laboratory test for Covid-19 as part of her preparation for the trip, which gets underway on Wednesday, and was later notified of a positive result.

She said she had two “socially distanced meetings” with Biden on Monday and that he is not considered a “close contact” under Centres for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.