The recent summits of world leaders this year come as the world is still in the midst of a pandemic. Following the positive COVID-19 test result of the White House Press Secretary, US President Joe Biden tested negative for the coronavirus.
A White House spokesperson said that the US leader tested negative for COVID-19 following news that White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tested positive. The spokesperson said Biden took a PCR test as part of the entry requirements ahead of the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow, Scotland. Psaki tested positive and announced her diagnosis Sunday, saying that the last time she was in the same place as Biden was Tuesday.
Psaki said that they were standing more than 1.5 meters apart from each other and were wearing masks. The US leader is getting tested frequently and had already tested negative for COVID-19 Saturday, said the White House. Psaki originally planned to be present in the G20 Summit and the COP26 summit but ultimately did not go as her family members tested positive for COVID-19.
Biden received his COVID-19 booster vaccination back in September following the green light from authorities for the third dose. White House staff members who are with Biden on the trip are also getting frequently tested for COVID-19 since before leaving Washington. All of them are fully vaccinated, and many of the officials have received their booster shots.
In other related news, Biden announced Tuesday that his administration would announce a nominee to the Federal Reserve but did not specify if he plans to renominate Jerome Powell for the post. Powell’s term is set to expire in February 2022.
“We’ll be making the announcements fairly quickly,” said Biden to the reporters on the sidelines of the COP26 summit.
“I also would indicate that I think we’re gonna have plenty of time to make sure all the major nominees are able to be cleared in time where their terms would expire,” the US leader added. “I’ve given a lot of thought to it and I’ve been meeting with my economic advisers on what the best choices are and we got a lot of good choices but I’m not going to speculate now.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who previously led the Federal Reserve under Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, told CNBC that she had already discussed the role with Biden but did not reveal any specifics.