First lady Dr. Jill Biden tests negative for Covid-19
By Donald Judd, Arlette Saenz, Betsy Klein and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN
(CNN) — First lady Dr. Jill Biden has tested negative for Covid-19, the White House announced Thursday.
The first lady, 72, has been isolating in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, since Monday evening, when she first tested positive for Covid-19. According to the White House, President Joe Biden has tested negative for Covid-19 daily since the first lady’s diagnosis.
The diagnosis arrived at the beginning of a high-stakes week for Biden, 80, who departed for India Thursday for the G20 Summit.
“The President tested negative for COVID,” the White House said in a statement to pool ahead of his departure Thursday. CNN previously reported that there are no changes to White House Covid protocols or to the president’s schedule at this time.
The first couple spent the weekend together, traveling to storm-ravaged Florida Saturday before a trip to their Rehoboth Beach home.
The first lady, who was slated to begin teaching Fall semester classes at Northern Virginia Community College, is working with the school to “ensure her classes are covered by a substitute” in her absence, Vanessa Valdivia, the first lady’s spokesperson, said earlier this week.
Dr. Biden will follow the White House medical team’s advice about when to return to the White House, Valdivia said.
Her diagnosis comes as Covid-19 cases have again been on the rise, though still relatively low, in the US. Hospitalizations are up 15.7% over the past week, and deaths are up 17.6% over the past week, according to data from the CDC.
A new variant, BA.2.86, has captured scientists’ attention because it’s highly mutated, but so far it’s only been detected in a small number of people globally. Nonetheless, “it doesn’t look good … in terms of the virus’ nonstop evolution,” Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist at the Scripps Research Translational Institute, said. The virus “keeps finding new ways to challenge humans, to find new hosts and repeat hosts, and it’s relentless.”
Dr. Biden tested positive for Covid-19 last year while vacationing in South Carolina in August and President Biden tested positive last July. Both experienced rebound cases shortly after being treated with Paxlovid.
This story has been updated with additional information.
The-CNN-Wire
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CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Mary Kay Mallonee, Deirde McPhillips and Amanda Musa contributed to this report.
