CNN
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President Joe Biden’s Covid-19 symptoms remained mild as of late Thursday and he continues to recover at the White House, a senior adviser told CNN on Friday.
“I got an update last night at 10:00 in the evening and he was doing well,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s Covid-19 response coordinator, during an interview with John Berman on CNN’s “New Day.” Jha added that he would touch base with the White House medical team and speak to the President “directly this morning.”
Biden’s symptoms, Jha said, were “basically the same” as of Thursday night.
“The symptoms were basically the same — again, he had a bit of a runny nose, he had a dry cough,” Jha said.
Biden tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday, becoming the second US president to contract the virus during the two-and-a-half-year pandemic. In a video posted on Twitter, Biden told Americans that he is “doing well” and that he was continuing to work while in isolation at the White House.
The president is fully vaccinated and twice-boosted, and has been prescribed Paxlovid — Pfizer’s antiviral drug — because his advanced age puts him at high risk of experiencing serious illness. Biden is 79 years old.
But to this point, Biden has experienced only mild symptoms, according to a statement from White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor and a briefing by Jha and press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday. The pair are expected to speak to reporters again on Friday afternoon.
Jha said they still “don’t know much” about where the President contracted the virus, but said tracing was underway for any close contacts of the President. He said he was not aware of any subsequent cases. First Lady Jill Biden, who is considered a close contact but has tested negative, will stay in Delaware over the weekend and “follow (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidance,” he said.
Asked again if any of Biden’s symptoms were getting worse, Jha told CNN, “No. From 22:00 last evening, no. it was the same symptoms, about the same level of mildness. But I will be in touch with them (the White House medical unit) this morning, I will be in touch with him this morning.”
Jha downplayed concerns that the White House press corps has yet to be briefed directly by Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, after a reporter at Thursday’s briefing said the White House is playing a game of telephone.
“Dr. O’Connor is his personal physician. You have heard from Dr. O’Connor on paper. Here we are fully committed to transparency. You will hear every day from Dr. O’Connor through written communication. He would give his statement with this assessment of how the president is doing,” he said.
He said many officials are in contact with Biden and “the American people will have a very complete full picture of how the president is doing.”
Pressed again by Berman on whether he had plans to make O’Connor available to the press or the public, Jha said that O’Connor “will share his information” and that “a number of administration officials” will share the information.
White House officials have been preparing for months for what many saw as an inevitability that Biden would come down with Covid.
A flurry of cases swept Washington over the spring and summer, and as more of his top officials and family members contracted Covid, officials came to believe it was possible the President himself had fallen ill, even though they took steps to protect that from the virus.
Officials had a loose plan for the day Biden tested positive, including informing the public when the tests were confirmed and releasing a letter from Biden’s doctor — both of which took place Thursday.
