President Joe Biden has tested positive for Covid-19, the White House announced Thursday.
In a statement, White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said Mr Biden, who is regularly tested for Covid-19, had tested positive on Thursday morning. She added that the president, who is fully vaccinated against Covid-19 with two booster shots, has “very mild symptoms” which are being treated with the antiviral drug Paxlovid.
Ms. Jean-Pierre said Mr. Biden would follow the Centers for Disease Control’s guidelines by isolating himself at the White House while fulfilling “all his duties fully during this time.”
“He contacted members of the White House staff by phone this morning and will participate in his scheduled meetings at the White House this morning by phone and Zoom from the residence,” she said. “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.”
Ms Jean-Pierre said the White House would provide daily updates on Mr Biden’s condition “out of an abundance of transparency”, although she stressed he continued to “fulfil the full duties of the office” despite being in isolation .
During a White House briefing, Ms Jean-Pierre said she was not sure where Mr Biden contracted Covid, adding “I don’t think it matters”.
Speaking to reporters in Detroit, Michigan, first lady Jill Biden said she spoke with her husband shortly after his positive test became public knowledge.
“He’s doing well,” she said. “He feels good.”
Since Mr. Biden took office in January 2021, the possibility of him contracting Covid-19 has been a major concern for his advisers, who have until recently gone to great lengths to limit his contact with large crowds.
At 79, Biden is the oldest person to be sworn in for a first presidential term and is at high risk of severe complications from the virus. But White House officials said Mr. Biden was well protected by the vaccine and booster doses he received shortly before taking office.
Mr Biden’s positive test comes amid a resurgence of Covid-19 cases due to new variants and sub-variants of the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus, which doctors say are far more contagious than previous iterations and more easily evade immunity given of his vaccines and boosters.
The leader of the Republican Senate, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, reacted to Mr Biden’s positive test, telling reporters: “I hope he gets better soon and doesn’t have any difficulty getting over it.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters at her weekly press conference that she understood Mr. Biden’s symptoms to be “mild.”
“I hope they continue to be like that. That was my experience,” she said.
In a memorandum released by Ms. Jean-Pierre’s office, the president’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, said that Mr. Biden was “experiencing mild symptoms, mostly rhinorrhea (or runny nose) and fatigue, with a dry cough occasionally’ from Wednesday night.
Dr O’Connor said he expected the “fully vaccinated and twice-boosted” president would “respond favourably” to antiviral treatment with Paxlovid, “as most maximally protected patients do” and said early use of an antiviral drug provides “additional protection against serious illness”.
Add Comment