AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden has tested positive for COVID on the heels of a trip to Florida, while President Joe Biden has tested negative so far.
The White House announced Monday night, in a statement emailed from East Wing Communications Director Elizabeth Alexander, that “This evening, the First Lady tested positive for COVID-19. She is currently experiencing only mild symptoms. She will remain at their home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.”
The diagnosis comes on the heels of a trip to Florida to address the devastation from Hurricane Idalia, during which she and the president toured the disaster site and met with survivors in Live Oak, Florida. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) was among the officials who greeted the president, praising him over the federal response. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis did not join them.
But President Biden has thus far been given a clean bill of health. On Monday night, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement:
Following the First Lady’s positive test for COVID-19, President Biden was administered a COVID
test this evening. The President tested negative. The President will test at a regular cadence this week and monitor for symptoms.
According to CNN, the illness has forced Dr. Biden to shift some plans:
The diagnosis has upended the first lady’s plans to begin teaching the fall semester at Northern Virginia Community College on Tuesday. She is working with the school to “ensure her classes are covered by a substitute,” Vanessa Valdivia, the first lady’s spokesperson, said.Dr. Biden, who remains at the family’s home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, typically teaches on Tuesday and Thursdays.
The diagnosis comes just a little over a year after both the president and first lady tested positive for COVID for the first time, and each then experienced a rebound infection weeks later.
The news also comes as a nationwide COVID surge has begun to hit Florida.