On June 30, 2022, First Lady Jill Biden watches as Marine One, carrying US President Joe Biden, lands on the South Lawn of the White House upon Biden's return to Washington DC. MANDEL NGAN AFP WASHINGTON BERLIN ROME US first lady Jill Biden has tested positive in a rebound case of COVID 19 but is not experiencing any symptoms, while President Joe Biden continues to test negative for the virus, officials said on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Jill Biden was tested positive by antigen testing, following a negative test the previous day, and the White House's medical unit has notified close contacts, her deputy communications director said.
The First Lady hasn't experienced a resurgence of symptoms, and will remain in Delaware where she has reinitiated isolation procedures, her deputy communications director, Kelsey Donohue, said in a statement.
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Jill Biden, 71, first tested positive for COVID 19 on Aug 16. She had ended her first isolation on August 21 after taking a course of Paxlovid, an antiviral medication.
President Biden tested negative for COVID - 19 in antigen testing on Wednesday morning, the White House said.
A White House official said the president would wear a mask for 10 days when he is indoors and near others. The White House will report the results and keep President Biden's increased cadence of testing, the official said.
A doctor 2nd right takes a swab sample from a man to test for COVID 19 at a testing station in Berlin's Friedrichshain district. TOBIAS SCHWARZ AFP German health minister Karl Lauterbach said on Wednesday he expects a wave of COVID 19 infections this autumn, but ruled out further lock-downs or school closures.
He made remarks after a cabinet meeting during which the government approved stricter mask rules on trains and planes from October.
A woman has a nose swab taken for a rapid COVID 19 test at a high school in Rome, Italy on September 28, 2020. CECILIA FABIANO An Italian institution said on Wednesday that the number of illness certificates issued for the country's workers in the first half of 2022 increased by over 60 percent year on year, due to the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Between January and June, 19.8 million such certificates were issued, up 60.5 percent from the same period last year, according to the National Social Security Institute.