Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, tests positive for COVID-19

WASHINGTON — White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed early Sunday evening via social media that she has tested positive for COVID-19.

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“Sharing full statement and grateful I am vaccinated and for the amazing Biden team,” Psaki wrote.

“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,” Psaki added, noting that members if her household tested positive for the virus earlier in the week.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, severe breakthrough COVID-19 infections in people who have been fully vaccinated are rare and typically occur in people whose immune systems are weakened by advanced age or underlying medical conditions. Vaccinated people are 8 times less likely to be infected and 25 times less likely to be hospitalized or die because of the virus, the agency has stated.

Read Psaki’s full statement below.

Psaki’s COVID-19 diagnosis comes as cumulative U.S. cases near 46 million and the global death toll attributed to the virus creeps toward 5 million, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.

Earlier this month, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas became the first Biden cabinet member to test positive, while State Department spokesman Ned Price tested positive in late September, USA Today reported.

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