Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
WASHINGTON, 22nd July. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that President Joe Biden has tested positive for Covid-19 and is experiencing “mild symptoms,” in a regular White House press briefing.
She said that “This morning, President Biden tested positive for COVID-19. He is fully vaccinated and twice boosted and experiencing very mild symptoms. He has begun taking Paxlovid. Consistent with CDC guidelines, he will isolate at the White House and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time.”
White House’s corona virus coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha told CNN that Biden, 79, did not have a fever Thursday morning, but he has a runny nose, dry cough and is experiencing some fatigue, Jha said.
According to the White House, First lady Jill Biden told reporters that she tested negative Thursday morning.
“I talked to him just a few minutes ago. He’s doing fine, he’s feeling good,” she told reporters in Detroit.
This is the first time Biden has tested positive for Covid-19.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden last tested negative on Tuesday.
Paxlovid is Pfizer’s antiviral drug and is available via emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of mild to moderate Covid-19 in people 12 and older who are at high risk of severe illness. It requires a doctor’s prescription.
White House officials said that Biden received his first two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine ahead of his inauguration in January 2021, his first booster shot in September and his second booster vaccination on March 30.
They said that due to his age, Biden is at an increased risk for a more severe case of Covid-19 although the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said older adults being fully vaccinated and boosted significantly reduces their risk of hospitalization and death.
He had originally been scheduled to travel to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Thursday for a speech on crime prevention, followed by a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Philadelphia, White House said in a statement.
It also added that Biden was also scheduled to travel to Orlando and Tampa, Florida, on Monday.
White House Press Secretary Jean-Pierre said Biden would be isolating at the White House “consistent with CDC guidelines.”
Biden has increased his engagement with the public over the past year as the White House has shifted its approach toward the pandemic.
White House officials said that on Wednesday, Biden traveled to Somerset, Massachusetts, for an event on climate executive actions, where he was seen shaking hands and greeting attendees in the outdoor crowd.
Biden’s positive diagnosis came less than a week after an official trip to the Middle East, where he held meetings with world leaders in Israel and Saudi Arabia.
He was seen shaking hands, bumping fists and embracing other leaders, White House ackowledged.
White House is working on contact tracing for those who may have been close contacts of Biden, per an official, since his positive Covid test.
They plan to inform any close contacts on Thursday, including members of Congress and the press.
US administration has reported a wave of COVID cases among Cabinet members, White House staffers and members of Congress in Washington in recent months.
According to Vice President Spokesperson Kirsten Allen, Vice President Kamala Harris contracted the virus earlier this year.
Harris is fully vaccinated and double boosted and did not experience symptoms. She took the antiviral corona virus treatment Paxlovid after consulting her physicians, and tested negative on May 2, leaving isolation, according to her spokesperson Allen.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House domestic policy adviser Susan Rice were some of the highest-ranking Biden administration officials to test positive for Covid-19 after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington in April.
Biden also attended the dinner and delivered remarks at that event. Some 2,600 guests were required to be fully vaccinated and show proof of a negative test on the day of the event, White House officials stated.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Attorney General Merrick Garland, former White House press secretary Jen Psaki and several others have tested positive in recent months, US administration said.
White House officials had acknowledged it was possible the President would at some point contract Covid-19 but have emphasized the precautions being taken to prevent infection.
White House Covid-19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha has said “The bottom line is he is vaccinated and boosted. He is very well protected. He’s got very good protocols around him to protect him from getting infected. But there is no 100% anything,”
Biden’s infection came as the US sees a rise of Covid-19 cases and over 1 million people have died of Covid-19 since the pandemic began.
According to White House officials, the Biden administration is continuing the Covid-19 public health emergency as it seeks new funding from Congress for treatments and vaccines.
The public health emergency declaration allows many Americans to obtain free Covid-19 testing, therapeutic treatment and vaccines. Medicare has also relaxed the rules governing telehealth so that many more seniors can access such services during the declaration.
The states are not involuntarily disenrolling residents from Medicaid during the declaration, in exchange for receiving more generous federal matching funds.
Over the last 2 years into the pandemic, Biden has become the second sitting US president to test positive for Covid-19.
Former President Donald Trump announced on October 2, 2020, that he and then-first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for Covid-19, months before any vaccines were authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Trump was transferred to Walter Reed, where he spent the weekend and received various treatments. He returned to the White House on October 5, 2020.
Biden underwent his annual physical in November at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Sr. officials said.
According to the White House officials, his physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, wrote in a memo that the President “remains fit for duty, and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations.”
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