Joe Biden tested positive

According to the White House, Joe Biden tested positive for COVID on Thursday, highlighting the virus’s persistence as new variants test the nation’s efforts to resume normalcy after two and a half years of pandemic disruptions.

Biden is experiencing “mild symptoms,” according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden is experiencing “mild symptoms” and has begun taking Paxlovid, an antiviral drug designed to reduce the severity of the disease.
She stated that Biden “will isolate at the White House and continue to perform all of his duties fully during that time.”

Biden on Friday during a visit to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia to mark the agency’s 75th anniversary. Photograph: Samuel Corum/AFP/Getty Images

“He has spoken with White House staff members by phone this morning, and will participate in his planned meetings at the White House this morning via phone and Zoom from his residence.”

Biden, 79, received two doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine shortly before taking office, a first booster shot in September, and an additional dose on March 30.

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Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, described Biden’s symptoms as “mild” in a letter released by the White House.

“Mostly rhinorrhea (or runny nose) and fatigue, with the occasional dry cough that began yesterday evening,” O’Connor wrote. He expects “he will respond favorably” to Paxlovid, as “most maximally protected patients do.”

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According to her office, First Lady Jill Biden tested negative. The first lady is in Michigan for a school event. Before the event began, Biden addressed the news that her husband had tested positive for COVID.

Joe Biden in Somerset, Massachusetts, on Wednesday. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

“COVID was found in my husband. I just spoke with him a few moments ago. “He’s fine, he’s in good spirits,” she said. “This morning, I tested negative.” I’m going to stick to my plan. “

On Thursday, the president was scheduled to deliver a speech on gun violence in Pennsylvania. That trip has been canceled, and he is expected to spend the weekend at his home in Wilmington, Delaware.

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While this is Biden’s first bout with coronavirus, the virus has infected several members of his administration. Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for COVID in April, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and Secretary of State Antony Blinken both tested positive in May.

Coronavirus cases in the United States have risen once more as the contagious BA.5 variant has emerged as the dominant strain. According to Johns Hopkins University, the United States has been recording up to 150,000 new COVID cases per day.

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Jean-Pierre stated in her statement that the White House will provide a daily update on Biden’s condition “as he continues to [work] in isolation.”