Jill Biden tests positive for Covid-19

Washington, Sep 5 (IANS) US First Lady Jill Biden has tested positive for Covid-19, the White House announced.

“This evening, the First Lady tested positive for Covid-19. She is currently experiencing only mild symptoms. She will remain at their home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware,” CNN quoted Biden'sspokesperson Elizabeth Alexanderas saying in a statement on Monday night.

President Joe Biden, 80, tested negative, according to the White House.

The diagnosis of the 72-year-old First Lady comes amid a busy week for the President, who delivered a Labor Day speech in Philadelphia earlier in the day.

He is scheduled to present the Medal of Honor to an Army captain in a White House ceremony Tuesday before departing for the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India.

The First Lady had tested positive for Covid-19 while vacationing in South Carolina in August 2022, just a month after the President was diagnosed with the virus. 

Both experienced rebound cases shortly after being treated with Paxlovid.

Jill Biden’s diagnosis comes amid renewed attention to Covid-19 as the world approaches the fourth virus season since the global outbreak in early 2020, CNN reported.

In the US, there were about four new hospital admissions for every 100,000 people in the week ending August 19, which is considered low, according to the CDC.

While seven counties had high levels of Covid-19, 117 counties -- about 3.6 per cent of the country -- were in the medium threshold.