MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

FLOTUS tests positive for COVID-19

Mrs. Biden is being treated with Pfizer's Paxlovid

US First Lady Jill Biden has tested positive for COVID-19, after showing cold-like symptoms Monday night which prompted PCR measurings, it was announced Tuesday by White House sources.

President Joseph Biden's wife is fully vaccinated and has received two boosters. She is “only experiencing mild symptoms” and was prescribed a course of Pfizer's Paxlovid, an antiviral therapy given to patients with COVID-19.

The First Lady, aged 71, will be isolated for at least five days, the spokesperson added. She is currently at a private residence in South Carolina, where the Biden family has been spending a few days. She will remain there until she tests negative twice in a row, FLOTUS' Communications Director Elizabeth Alexander explained.

Mrs. Biden tested negative Monday, although she began to have symptoms in the afternoon. She then underwent an antigen test which was negative, although she later underwent a PCR test which was positive.

Jill Biden's infection comes less than a month after President Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on July 21.

The White House also said the head of state tested negative Tuesday, but since he is in close contact with his wife, he will follow the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and will wear a mask for the next ten days in all closed rooms or when near other people.

The White House will also increase the tests it routinely performs on the President and will report on the results.

President Biden tested negative on July 27 but tested positive again on July 30, a “rebound effect” which is not uncommon among patients treated with Paxlovid. On August 7, he was released from his second isolation after testing negative.

The President and his wife traveled to South Carolina on August 10 for a family vacation.