White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki Tests Positive for Covid: ‘Grateful I Am Vaccinated and For the Amazing Biden Team’

Sarah RumpfOct 31st, 2021, 5:53 pm
 
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 21: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki holds a press briefing at the White House on June 21, 2021 in Washington, DC. Psaki spoke on the upcoming Senate vote on the voting rights reform bill. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has tested positive for Covid-19, confirming the news in a statement she released on Sunday.

Psaki sent her statement to reporters, then posted it on her Twitter account, writing that she was “grateful I am vaccinated and for the amazing Biden team.”

In the statement, Psaki said that she had made the decision on Wednesday not to travel with President Joe Biden to Europe “due to a family emergency, which was members of my household testing positive for COVID-19.” Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre traveled with the president instead.

Psaki added that she tested negative for Covid-19 on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but had tested positive on Sunday. She was “disclosing today’s positive test out of an abundance of transparency.”

She last saw Biden on Tuesday, Psaki wrote, “when we sat outside more than six-feet apart, and wore masks.”

“Thanks to the vaccine,” she concluded, “I have only experienced mild symptoms which has enabled me to continue working from home.” Psaki plans to return to work after the conclusion of a ten-day quarantine after she tests negative, which she described as “an additional White House requirement, beyond CDC guidance,” and done “out of an abundance of caution.”

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.