Staff Reports
WASHINGTON — According to a statement released by the White House on Wednesday, Ashley Biden, daughter of Vice President Joe Biden and Jill Biden, has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and will no longer be travelling with her mother through Latin America.
According to Michael LaRosa, who serves as the spokesperson for the first lady, she is not regarded as a close contact to either of her parents. Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary for the White House, stated that President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump had not seen their daughter in “many days.”
The news that Ashley Biden had a positive test result was broken shortly before Jill Biden boarded her flight on Wednesday to Ecuador, the first country she would visit during her six days trip through Latin America. Before heading back to the United States capital the following week, the First Lady had planned to make stops in Panama and Costa Rica.
Ashley Biden, who is now 40 years old, will not be able to accompany her mother on an international trip for a second time since she has contracted the coronavirus.
After learning that she had had intimate contact with someone who later tested positive for COVID-19, she was removed from the first lady’s trip to Eastern Europe towards visit with Ukrainian refugees earlier in the month of May. The reason for this was because she had been exposed to the virus. LaRosa stated that Ashley Biden’s tests following that exposure came back negative.
The term “close contact” with an infected person is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the act of spending 15 to 20 minutes or more with that individual within a period of 24 hours. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises that individuals who have had “close contact” with an infected person do not require isolation if they have received all of their vaccinations but that they should wear masks that fit properly around other people for a period of ten days after the contact.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on ABC 7 Chicago.
