White House aide who tested positive for Covid-19 during foreign trip remains in Scotland

By Kaitlan Collins, CNN

A White House official tested positive for Covid-19 during President Joe Biden’s foreign trip and is now quarantining in Scotland, another White House official confirmed Thursday.

The aide, whom the White House is not identifying out of privacy concerns, tested positive on Tuesday — Biden’s last day attending the global climate summit — “although additional tests to date have been inconclusive.”

“This individual did not have close contact with the President and is not exhibiting any symptoms,” the separate White House official said. “The person has remained in Scotland to complete the quarantine period with the support of the administration.”

The White House also had several staff members who had close contact with the person who tested positive travel separately back to the United States.

“All close contacts tested negative via PCR upon arrival in the United States. Additionally, the President tested negative on Tuesday,” the separate official said.
The news comes after high-profile members of the Biden administration tested positive for the virus in recent weeks.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki had dropped off of Biden’s international trip last week after members of her household tested positive for Covid-19. Shortly afterward, Psaki announced she herself had tested positive. She said in a statement on Sunday that she was disclosing the positive test result “out of an abundance of transparency,” adding that “thanks to the vaccine,” she was experiencing only mild symptoms and was working remotely.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tested positive last month, forcing him to work from home instead of traveling to Bogota, Colombia.

Biden and his administration are urging Americans to get vaccinated.

“Later this month, our tables and hearts are going to be filled, thanks to the vaccines,” Biden said on Wednesday while addressing the news that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had authorized the Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 5 through 11. “We’ve made incredible progress over these past nine months, but we have to keep going.”

This story has been updated with additional background.

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