US president Joe Biden has tested positive for Covid-19 and has been experiencing “very mild symptoms”.
The 79-year-old, who is fully vaccinated against the virus and has received two booster shots, said he was feeling fine on Thursday.
The White House said the president had also started taking the anti-viral drug Paxlovid, which protects against severe disease, and that the president had tested negative on Tuesday.
Mr Biden said he was “doing well” in a video posted on his Twitter account. In the 21-second clip, he also said he was “getting a lot of work done” and would continue with his duties.
He said he had contacted politicians in Pennsylvania, where he had been scheduled to visit on Thursday before he tested positive for the virus. He also sent his regrets to his “cousins” in his hometown of Scranton who he was also due to meet.
The president’s personal physician Dr Kevin O’Connor said Mr Biden had a runny nose and fatigue with an occasional dry cough in a letter on Thursday to the White House press secretary.
Mr Biden’s mild symptoms started on Wednesday evening, Dr O’Connor said in the letter to press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Dr O’Connor said he expected Mr Biden to respond “favourably” to Paxlovid “as most maximally protected patients do”.
In a statement the White House said: “Consistent with Centers for Disease Control [CDC] guidelines, he will isolate at the White House and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time. He has been in contact with members of the White House staff by phone this morning and will participate in his planned meetings at the White House this morning via phone and Zoom from the residence.
“Consistent with White House protocol for positive Covid cases, which goes above and beyond CDC guidance, he will continue to work in isolation until he tests negative. Once he tests negative, he will return to in-person work.”
The White House said that out of an abundance of transparency, it would provide a daily update on the president’s status.
“Per standard protocol for any positive case at the White House, the White House medical unit will inform all close contacts of the president’s during the day today, including any members of congress and any members of the press who interacted with the president during yesterday’s travel.”
On Wednesday, the president travelled to Massachusetts to make a speech on climate change. He was scheduled to visit Philadelphia on Thursday. The president’s wife, Jill Biden, is understood to have tested negative for the virus.
Multiple members of Mr Biden’s administration and other senior figures in Washington have tested positive for the coronavirus in recent months, including vice-president Kamala Harris and House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, both of whom have since tested negative and resumed working.
While many Americans have moved on from the strict precautions of the pandemic’s early months, returning to offices and schools and resuming summer travel, the virus has been spreading rapidly.
US cases are up more than 25 per cent in the last month, according to CDC data, with the BA.5 subvariant taking hold. — Additional reporting: Reuters
