President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19, the White House announced today. Biden is experiencing mild symptoms and has started taking Paxlovid, an antiviral treatment.
The news comes amid a wave of COVID-19 infections sweeping the country, driven by the highly transmissible BA.5 variant. Biden spent part of yesterday traveling and gave a speech about the administration’s clean energy goals in Massachusetts.
In the week before the positive test, NPR reports that the President had also “lingered for extended conversations, posed for pictures and gave hugs at the Congressional Picnic on the White House South Lawn.” During a four-day trip to the Middle East, he shook hands with leaders in the region, and attended meetings and other events without wearing a mask, NPR said.
A letter from Biden’s doctor indicates that his symptoms are fairly mild, and consist of fatigue, a runny nose, and a dry cough, which started on Wednesday evening.
At 79 years old, Biden’s age puts him at increased risk of serious symptoms from COVID-19. He is fully vaccinated against the virus and has had two boosters. The White House says he will isolate until he tests negative, and that he “will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time.”
Biden’s predecessor, former President Donald Trump, also tested positive for COVID-19 while in office. At the time, in 2020, there were no vaccines available. Trump was hospitalized and given an experimental antibody treatment.
COVID-19 has been a defining factor in Biden’s presidency. On his first full day in office, he released a national pandemic strategy. That plan’s effectiveness has been mixed, complicated by emerging variants that have spread rapidly around the world.
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