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White House press secretary Jen Psaki tests positive for COVID-19, won't travel with Biden to Europe

Jen Psaki press secretary
Posted at 11:51 AM, Mar 22, 2022
and last updated 2022-03-22 15:02:45-04

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says she will not accompany President Joe Biden on a trip to Europe after testing positive for COVID-19.

Psaki says she had two "socially-distanced meetings" with the president on Monday and that Biden is not considered a close contact. She added that she's experiencing "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," Psaki said.

Psaki previously contracted COVID-19 in October. At the time of her positive test, Biden was traveling in Europe for a G20 summit in Rome and a U.N. climate summit in Scotland. Psaki decided not to attend the trip after several White House staffers tested positive for the virus.

Biden will travel to Europe later this week to attend a NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday, where leaders will discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine. He'll then travel to Poland to meet with President Andrzej Duda to "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."