President Joe Biden has been diagnosed as positive for COVID-19 this Thursday morning, as confirmed by the White House.
In a statement, presidential mansion press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden, 79, is experiencing “very mild symptoms” and has started taking Paxlovid, an antiviral therapy recommended by Dr. Kevin O’ Connor, the president’s doctor.
According to O’Connor, Biden began experiencing symptoms — a runny nose, fatigue and an occasional dry cough — on Wednesday night.
The president will continue to work from residence at the White House, where he is expected to self-isolate for at least five days, based on current guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Jean-Pierre revealed that Biden has been in contact with members of the White House staff by phone and will participate in their planned meetings “by phone and Zoom” from the residence.
“Once he tests negative, he will go back to work in the Oval Office,” Jean-Pierre said. His last previous test for the coronavirus had been on Tuesday, which was negative.
“For a matter of transparency,” the spokeswoman added, “the White House will provide a daily update on the status of the president.”
According to a US official, Vice President Kamala Harris, who was last with Biden on Tuesday, tested negative and her trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday went as planned.
For her part, first lady Jill Biden, who is in Detroit, told reporters that she tested negative Thursday morning and will continue with her travel itinerary while wearing a mask and social distancing, per CDC guidelines. . And she added that the president is “fine.”
“I spoke to him a few minutes ago,” he said. “It’s okay, it feels good.”
In a subsequent tweet, the president, who was scheduled to travel to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, said he was feeling “great.”
Biden is fully vaccinated and double boosted. He received his first two doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine shortly before his inauguration in January 2021, a Pfizer booster in September, and another in late March.
An update from me: pic.twitter.com/L2oCR0uUTu
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 21, 2022
The president appeared without a mask at several events in recent days, including at an event in Somerset, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, where he shook hands with supporters while flanked by current and former lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren and the presidential envoy for climate issues, John Kerry.
The White House Medical Unit is in the process of contacting anyone who may have interacted with Biden on the trip, Jean-Pierre said.
The news of Biden’s positive test comes amid a surge in cases in the United States, which is being driven by more transmissible Omicron subvariants.
According to Johns Hopkins University, there have been more than 90 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States since the start of the pandemic, far more than in any other country in the world.
More than 1,025,000 Americans have died as a result of complications from COVID-19.
