President Biden on Wednesday, a day before he tested positive for the coronavirus. Credit… Doug Mills/New York Times
WASHINGTON — President Biden tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, raising concerns about the 79-year-old president’s health and underscoring that the virus remains an ongoing threat in a country trying to put the pandemic behind it.
Karin Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said in a statement that Mr. Biden was “fully vaccinated and twice boosted and experiencing very mild symptoms.”
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, said in a letter released by the White House that Mr. Biden was experiencing fatigue, a runny nose and an occasional dry cough.
“I expect he will respond favorably, as most maximally protected patients do,” Dr. O’Connor wrote.
The president is receiving Paxlovid, an antiviral drug used to minimize the severity of Covid-19, Ms Jean-Pierre said. He will self-isolate at the White House but “continues to fully fulfill all of his duties during this time,” she said.
Mr Biden tweeted in the afternoon saying he was “doing great” and was “busy!”
In a short video posted on Twitter, Mr Biden thanked people for their concern and said he was “doing well, he’s done a lot of work”. In the video, Mr. Biden is shown standing near a balcony overlooking the South Lawn of the White House, wearing a suit but no tie.
“Keep the faith,” Mr. Biden says in the video. “Everything will be fine.”
He was scheduled to fly to Pennsylvania on Thursday for a speech on gun violence and then travel to his home in Wilmington, Delaware, for the weekend. White House officials said both trips had been canceled.
Dr. Ashish K. Jha, Mr. Biden’s coronavirus response coordinator, told a White House briefing that he believed the president was not at serious risk of serious illness, given that he was fully recovered. up with his vaccines and taking Paxlovid.
“Because the president is fully vaccinated, doubly boosted, his risk of serious illness is dramatically lower,” Dr. Jha said, adding, “Our expectation is that he will have mild illness.”
Mr. Biden will self-isolate for five days at the White House residence, Dr. Jha said, and will resume normal activities only after he tests negative.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who was last with the president on Tuesday, has tested negative, according to the White House. Jill Biden, the first lady, also tested negative Thursday morning, according to Michael LaRosa, her spokesman. Ms. Harris and Dr. Biden also received two boosters.
The president’s diagnosis was a moment his aides had been preparing for for years. As a candidate in 2020, Mr. Biden took extraordinary measures to avoid getting sick, holding “car rallies” and avoiding the in-person events that were hallmarks of campaign life.
As president, he remained highly isolated during his first months in office as the virus grew. The number of employees he interacts with is limited. Members of the news media and others were tested regularly. Mr. Biden and his staff wore masks at all times.
More recently, however, as the number of people being vaccinated has increased and many Americans have shrugged off concerns about the pandemic, the president has largely resumed regular business. Last week he returned from Israel and Saudi Arabia, where he shook hands and hugged many world leaders.
At home, Mr. Biden rarely wears a mask and hosts crowded White House events, even as the nation grapples with a wave of cases of new subtypes that are highly contagious and can more easily evade vaccine protection.
His advisers say he followed guidelines from the CDC and the District of Columbia.
In her statement, Ms. Jean-Pierre said staff would notify any members of Congress, journalists or others believed to have been in close contact with the president during a trip to Massachusetts on Wednesday.
“In accordance with the White House’s protocol for positive Covid cases, which goes beyond CDC guidelines, he will continue to work in isolation until he tests negative,” she said in the statement. “After he tests negative, he will return to personal work.”
Mr. Biden is tested regularly. His last test was on Tuesday, when he came back negative, officials said Thursday.
It’s unclear exactly how he became infected, and White House officials declined to offer details about who he had been in contact with in recent days. It is difficult to determine exactly how or when someone contracted the virus.
Mr. Biden had a series of close calls before contracting the virus. In March, he attended a gala event with Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin, who left after testing positive.
Mr. Biden also attended the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in May, and a number of attendees tested positive afterward, including Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken.
Mr. Biden and his top aides urged people to get vaccinated and get boosters. The vaccine is very effective at protecting people from serious illness or death, even when breakthrough infections occur.
The president and Democratic lawmakers have called on congressional Republicans to pass emergency coronavirus funds to ensure the United States can buy new vaccines and therapeutics.
Mr. Biden is the second president to be infected with the coronavirus. In October 2020, President Donald J. Trump tested positive and was flown by helicopter to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he was given steroids and other treatments.
Mr Trump and his aides downplayed his symptoms at the time, but reports later revealed he was very ill.
Noah Weiland and Katie Rogers contributed reporting.
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