WASHINGTON — A White House aide who traveled with President Biden to Scotland tested positive for the coronavirus this week and remains in quarantine abroad, according to an administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a medical issue.
The aide tested positive on Tuesday after taking a lateral flow test, which was a daily requirement to attend the United Nations climate summit held in Glasgow, but has not shown any symptoms of Covid-19. President Biden was not in close contact with the aide, the official said.
The aide has taken subsequent tests, but those came back inconclusive, the official said. The aide remains in quarantine in Scotland, and is waiting on the results of a PCR test.
Mr. Biden tested negative for the virus on Tuesday, the official said. The president, who is 78, received a booster shot in September.
Aides who had close contact with the person who tested positive traveled separately from the president from Scotland to the United States, the official said, and have tested negative since. The positive case was first reported by Bloomberg.
On Sunday, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary who stayed behind from the trip at the last minute because of a family emergency, said that she had tested positive for the coronavirus.
“Thanks to the vaccine, I have only experienced mild symptoms, which has enabled me to continue working from home,” Ms. Psaki said on Sunday.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House principal deputy press secretary, traveled on the trip while Ms. Psaki stayed home and went into quarantine, and has been holding press briefings at the White House this week.
Mr. Biden traveled abroad with a large delegation that included his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and the secretary of state, Antony Blinken. The president’s entourage also included several press officials who interacted both with other White House officials and with numerous journalists covering the trip.
In July, after a White House staff member tested positive for the virus, Ms. Psaki warned that there would be more breakthrough cases and said that precautions were in place to protect the president.
