A close aide of Joe Biden who travelled with him to Scotland for the UN Climate Summit has tested positive for coronavirus.
The aide is a staffer on the National Security Council of the US and had accompanied Biden to Scotland for the UN climate summit. He tested positive somewhere in the past week, as per local reports cited in Bloomberg.
However, US President Joe Biden has tested negative for the virus. The aide is not reported to have had close contact with the President a few days before testing positive. After the news, the White House asked other staffers to stay back and return on a different government plane rather than coming back with Biden on Air Force One.
The aide tested positive a few days after White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also got infected by the deadly virus. Psaki was scheduled to travel with the President, but she cancelled the trip as her family members tested positive. “However, today, I tested positive for COVID. While I have not had close contact in person with the president or senior members of the White House staff since Wednesday — and tested negative for four days after that last contact — I am disclosing today’s positive test out of an abundance of transparency,” she said in a statement.
Psaki also detailed that she had last seen the President on Tuesday but had maintained her distance and both of them were wearing masks. “Thanks to the vaccine, I have only experienced mild symptoms, which has enabled me to continue working from home. I will plan to return to work in person at the conclusion of the ten-day quarantine following a negative rapid test, which is an additional White House requirement, beyond CDC guidance, taken out of an abundance of caution,” she added.