President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley Biden (right), has contracted the coronavirus (Picture: Reuters/Getty Images)
President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley Biden, has tested positive for the coronavirus.
The first daughter, 40, will no longer travel to Latin America with First Lady Jill Biden this week, the White House announced on Wednesday.
‘Ashley Biden is not considered a close contact to the President and first lady,’ said Jill’s spokesman Michael LaRosa.
The first daughter was slated to depart on Wednesday afternoon for Quito, Ecuador, in the trip that also includes Panama and Costa Rica.
It is the second time that Ashley has dropped out of an official trip. Earlier this month, she was considered a close contact and exposed to an individual who caught Covid-19 before the first lady’s tour of Ukraine, Poland and Romania.
People are considered to be close contacts if they have been within six feet of each other for at least 15 minutes in a 24-hour period, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The BA.2 subvariant has fueled more spread of the coronavirus in Washington, DC. Several people in the president’s inner circle have contracted the virus in recent weeks, including Vice President Kamala Harris and White House communications director Kate Bedingfield.
The president has not previously tested positive for the coronavirus. It was not immediately clear on Wednesday when he took his last Covid-19 test. He is up-to-date on booster shots.
Meetings with the president are often socially distanced, while masks are optional on the White House campus, administration officials have said.
In her trip this week, the first lady is scheduled to meet Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso and give a speech on the challenges of migrating in Latin America. She is also slated to meet Panamanian First Lady Yazmín Colón de Cortizo and visit a health care facility in Panama City. Jill is also set to meet Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves.
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