REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — First lady Jill Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 again in an apparent “rebound” case, after she initially tested negative for the virus over the weekend.
President Joe Biden, who spent three days with his wife at their Rehoboth Beach, Del. vacation home, continues to test negative, the White House said. As he was a close contact of the first lady, he will wear a mask while indoors near others for the next ten days and test more frequently.
The president also suffered a rebound case earlier this month after an initial recovery from the virus.
Deputy communications director Kelsey Donohue said the first lady “has experienced no reemergence of symptoms, and will remain in Delaware where she has reinitiated isolation procedures.” She added: “The White House Medical Unit has conducted contact tracing and close contacts have been notified.”
Jill Biden, 71, had been prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid, which has proven to be highly effective at preventing serious disease and death among those at highest risk from COVID-19, but a minority of those prescribed the drug have experienced a rebound case of the virus a few days after their initial recovery.
The first lady's rebound case comes on a busy day for the White House as President Biden gets ready to announce his plan to forgive some student debt. He shared some details early Wednesday with remarks planned in the afternoon.
Val Lick contributed.