(Adds paragraphs 3-5, effect on trial schedule)
NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican U.S. vice presidential candidate and former Alaska governor, has tested positive for the coronavirus, as she had been set to go to trial against The New York Times, which she accused of defamation.
Palin's positive test was announced on Monday by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan, who is presiding over the case. Rakoff said "she is of course unvaccinated," referring to Palin.
Rakoff said Palin's positive test came from an at-home test whose reliability was lower than tests administered at the courthouse and required for the trial.
He said Palin will be retested on Monday morning, with the results determining whether the trial can proceed the same day or will be delayed.
Palin, 57, has accused the Times and its former editorial page editor James Bennet of damaging her reputation in a June 14, 2017, editorial linking her to a 2011 mass shooting in Arizona that killed six people and wounded U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Alistair Bell)
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