President Joe Biden has tested positive for Covid-19, the White House said Thursday.
The 79-year-old president, who is fully vaccinated and received two booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine, is experiencing “very mild symptoms,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. Biden previously tested negative on Tuesday.
On Thursday afternoon, Biden’s official Twitter account shared a photo of the president sitting at a desk and smiling, along with the reassurance, “I’m doing great folks. Thanks for your concern.”
Shortly after, the account posted a video of Biden speaking from a White House balcony. “Keep the faith, it will be fine,” he said.
Biden has started taking Pfizer’s Paxlovid, an antiviral pill that can reduce the risk of hospitalization for people who test positive for Covid, the press secretary said.
The president’s symptoms include a dry cough, runny nose and fatigue, White House physician Kevin O’Connor said in a memo. Those symptoms began Wednesday evening, O’Connor said.
“I anticipate that he will respond favorably, as most maximally protected patients do,” the doctor added.
First Lady Jill Biden told reporters in Detroit Thursday morning that her husband is “doing well.”
“I talked to him just a few minutes ago, he’s doing well,” Jill Biden said. She is considered a close contact with the president, but tested negative for Covid on Thursday and is following CDC social distancing guidelines, her office said.
Biden will work in isolation until he tests negative for the virus, Jean-Pierre said. He will hold all of his scheduled meetings remotely on Thursday.
Jean-Pierre will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. ET, accompanied by the White House’s Covid response coordinator, Dr. Ashish Jha.
Biden attended an event in Massachusetts on Wednesday to announce policies to combat climate change. Lawmakers and administration officials in attendance included Massachusetts Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, climate envoy John Kerry and climate adviser Gina McCarthy.
It was unclear whether any of those officials are considered close contacts of Biden under CDC guidelines.
(L-R) US Representative Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), US Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), US Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and US Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry follow US President Joe Biden before he speaks at the former site of the Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset, Massachusetts, on July 20, 2022.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
At the time of the White House announcement, Vice President Kamala Harris, 57, was flying on Air Force Two to Charlotte, North Carolina, where she was scheduled to discuss the Biden administration’s investments in high-speed Internet and meet with state leaders. office told NBC. No decision has yet been made to change her schedule, NBC reported.
The first lady said she planned to continue her schedule in Detroit, where she was scheduled to visit public schools and discuss how federal funds are being used to address student mental health issues and Covid-related learning disruptions. .
The White House’s handling of Biden’s Covid diagnosis so far stands in stark contrast to how former President Donald Trump’s administration disclosed his positive test to the public.
Trump himself announced in a post on October 2, 2020 on Twitter that he and then first lady Melania Trump tested positive for Covid. That evening, Trump was airlifted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in what the White House at the time called a “precautionary measure.” At the time, Covid vaccines were not widely available.
A year later, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows revealed in a book that Trump had received a positive test on September 26, three days before he personally debated Biden without a mask. Trump then received a negative test hours after the initial test.
Trump’s doctor confirmed that the president received supplemental oxygen twice during his hospital stay. He had also received doses of the antiviral therapy remdesivir.
Read the full White House statement:
This morning, President Biden tested positive for COVID-19. He is fully vaccinated and twice boosted and has very mild symptoms. He has started taking Paxlovid. In accordance with CDC guidelines, he will self-isolate at the White House and continue to perform his full duties during that time. He has been in contact with White House staff members by phone this morning and will participate in his scheduled White House meetings this morning via phone and Zoom from the residence.
In accordance with the White House’s protocol for positive cases of COVID, which goes beyond CDC guidelines, he will continue to work in isolation until he tests negative. After testing negative, he will return to work in person.
Out of an abundance of transparency, the White House will provide a daily update on the President’s status as he continues to carry out the full duties of office while in isolation.
As per standard protocol for any positive case at the White House, the White House Medical Unit will inform all close contacts of the President today, including every member of Congress and every member of the press who interacted with the President during the trip yesterday. The President’s last previous test for COVID was on Tuesday, when he had a negative test result.
