Joe Biden has tested positive for coronavirus and has cancelled a speech planned for Wednesday evening.
The US president, 81, tested positive on Wednesday and will now self-isolate at his home in Delaware, the White House said.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said: “Earlier today following his first event in Las Vegas, President Biden tested positive for Covid-19. He is vaccinated and boosted and he is experiencing mild symptoms.
“He will be returning to Delaware where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time. The White House will provide regular updates on the President’s status as he continues to carry out the full duties of the office while in isolation.”
Mr Biden’s doctor also provided a statement, explaining that he had reported a runny nose and “non productive cough” with “general malaise”.
Dr Kevin O’Connor added: “He felt okay for his first event of the day, but given that he was not feeling better, point of care testing for Covid-19 was conducted, and the results were positive for the Covid-19 virus.”
On his way back to Air Force One, which he will use to fly to Delaware, Mr Biden leant out of the window of his car and gave reporters a thumbs-up.
Asked how he was feeling, he replied: “Good. I feel good.”
The news was first revealed by Janet Murguia, the chief executive of UnidosUS, who said Mr Biden would no longer appear at the group’s conference in Las Vegas.
“I was just on the phone with President Biden. And he shared his deep disappointment at not being able to join us this afternoon. The president has been at many events as we all know and he just tested positive for Covid,” she told conference attendees.
Biden will take Paxlovid
Dr O’Connor said Mr Biden had already received his first dose of Paxlovid, an antiviral drug used to treat Covid.
Mr Biden has been vaccinated, but his age means he is at a higher risk of serious complications from the virus.
The number of deaths among people over age 65 is 97 times higher than the number of deaths among people ages 18-29 years, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Mr Biden has faced weeks of questions about his health, after his stuttering performance in the debate last month.
The White House has denied that he has Parkinson’s disease or any medical condition that would prevent him from serving as president. Mr Biden himself has said that he intends to hold fewer public events after 8pm to ensure he rests enough during the campaign.
Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Biden told a Black Entertainment Television reporter that he would step down from the 2024 election race if he was diagnosed with a serious medical condition. He had previously said only the “Lord Almighty” could convince him to give up the Democratic nomination.
Asked if there was any reason he would leave the race, Mr Biden told BET News: “If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem and that problem.”
The White House has said that Mr Biden remains in good health for his age, although he suffers from sleep apnea and a back condition that makes his movements stiff.
He was described as a “well meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” by a special prosecutor who interviewed him about claims he improperly stored classified documents in his garage after leaving office.
Mr Biden denied those claims, but has since acknowledged that his age affects his speech.
“I know I’m not a young man,” he told supporters in North Carolina on the day after the debate.
“I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t talk as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth.”
Mr Biden has had Covid twice before, most recently in a “rebound” infection in July 2022.
After the first presidential debate with Donald Trump on June 27, he said he had contracted a cold but his Covid test was negative.
Source Agencies
