President Joe Biden said Thursday that he's tested positive for Covid-19 but will continue to work while in isolation at the White House despite his mild symptoms, reports CNN. In a video posted to Twitter, Biden told Americans that he is "doing well" and that his symptoms continue to be mild.
"I guess you heard, this morning I tested positive for Covid. But I've been double vaccinated, double boosted. Symptoms are mild and I really appreciate your inquires and concerns. But I'm doing well, getting a lot of work done. Going to continue to get it done and in the meantime, thanks for your concern and keep the faith. It's gonna be OK," Biden, who was unmasked while standing outside on the Truman Balcony, said in the 20-second video.
Biden tests positive for Covid-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms (CNN)
Excerpt from CNN: The mild symptoms and diagnosis protocol for Biden -- a double-boosted 79-year-old at high risk for experiencing severe illness -- will mean isolating and "working and resting" at the White House residence for the rest of the day, according to a senior administration official. This is the first time Biden has tested positive for Covid-19, and he last tested negative on Tuesday, per White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Biden has called several people in the hours since his diagnosis. He wrote on Twitter Thursday afternoon that he is "doing great" following the positive test and said he called Pennsylvania politicians to send his regrets about having to cancel a scheduled trip to the commonwealth. The tweet was accompanied by an image of the President smiling at a desk, without a mask, in the residence of the White House.
According to The New York Times, President Biden’s coronavirus infection is a reminder that as much as Americans want to move on from the pandemic — none more so, perhaps, than Mr. Biden himself — the virus is not done with the United States.
Biden's virus infection reminds Americas the pandemic is not over (The New York Times)
Excerpt from The New York Times: For a third consecutive summer, the virus is surging, as the dominant BA.5 Omicron subvariant spreads rapidly, driving cases and hospitalizations to their highest point in months. People infected just months ago are at risk of reinfection. Mr. Biden’s coronavirus response team has been warning Americans that they must do more to protect themselves as the U.S. death toll climbs well past one million. A majority of Americans have been infected, the Centers for Disease Control and Protection estimates. There is no sign that BA.5 causes more severe disease, and with effective treatments like Paxlovid, which Mr. Biden is taking, and vaccine boosters, Covid is substantially less deadly.
For more than a year, President Joe Biden’s ability to avoid the coronavirus seemed to defy the odds. When he finally did test positive, the White House was ready. It set out to turn the diagnosis into a “teachable moment” and dispel any notion of a crisis, writes the Associated Press.
"The president does what every other person in America does every day, which is he takes reasonable precautions against COVID but does his job," White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told MSNBC late in the afternoon on Thursday.
White House tries to make Biden’s COVID a ‘teachable moment’ (Associated Press)
Excerpt from the Associated Press: It was a day that began with Biden’s COVID-19 results and included repeated assurances over the coming hours that the president was hard at work while isolating in the residential areas of the White House with "very mild symptoms" including a runny nose, dry cough and fatigue. It was all part of an administration effort to shift the narrative from a health scare to a display of Biden as the personification of the idea that most Americans can get COVID and recover without too much suffering and disruption if they’ve gotten their shots and taken other important steps to protect themselves.
Jump to this week's edition of:
World News (Part 1)
World News (Part 2)
US News
Politics
Culture
Business
