President Biden on Wednesday, a day before testing positive for the coronavirus. Credit… Doug Mills/The New York Times
WASHINGTON – President Biden tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, raising health concerns for the 79-year-old president and stressing that the virus remains a lingering threat in a country trying to put the pandemic behind it.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said in a statement that Mr. Biden was “fully vaccinated and boosted twice and had very mild symptoms.”
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, said in a letter released by the White House that Mr. Biden was experiencing fatigue, a runny nose and an occasional dry cough.
“I anticipate that he will respond favorably, as do most patients with maximum protection,” wrote Dr. O’Connor.
The president is receiving Paxlovid, an antiviral drug used to minimize the severity of Covid-19, Ms. Jean-Pierre. He will self-isolate at the White House, but will “continue to perform all his duties fully during this time,” he said.
Mr. Biden tweeted in the afternoon that he was “doing great” and that he was “staying busy!”
In a short video posted on Twitter, Mr Biden thanked people for their concerns and said he was “doing well, doing a lot of work”. In the video, Mr. Biden is shown standing near a balcony overlooking the South Lawn of the White House, wearing a suit but no tie.
“Keep the faith,” Mr. Biden says in the video. “It’ll be fine.”
He had planned to fly to Pennsylvania on Thursday to give a speech on gun violence and then travel to his home in Wilmington, Del., for the weekend. White House officials said both trips had been canceled.
Dr. Ashish K. Jha, Mr. Biden’s coronavirus response coordinator, said at a White House briefing that he believed the president was not at serious risk of serious illness given that he is fully up to speed on his vaccines and is taking Paxlovid.
“Because the president is fully vaccinated, double-boosted, his risk of serious illness is dramatically lower,” Dr. Jha said, adding that “our expectation is that he will have mild illness.”
Mr. Biden will self-isolate for five days at the White House residence, Dr. Jha said, and will only resume normal activities once he tests negative.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who was last with the president on Tuesday, tested negative, according to the White House. First lady Jill Biden, who also received two boosters, also tested negative Thursday morning, according to Michael LaRosa, her spokesman.
The first lady, who was determined to be a close contact with the president, is maintaining her travel schedule, which includes stops in Michigan and Georgia on Thursday, Mr. LaRosa. But he will follow the instructions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with masking and social distancing; the CDC defines close contact as being within six feet of someone for at least 15 minutes in a 24-hour period.
The president’s diagnosis was a moment his aides had spent years preparing for. As a candidate in 2020, Mr. Biden took extraordinary measures to avoid getting sick, holding “car rallies” and avoiding the in-person events that had been hallmarks of campaign life.
As president, he remained severely isolated during his first months in office as the virus surged. The number of staff he interacted with was limited. Members of the media and others were regularly tested. Mr. Biden and his staff wore masks at all times.
More recently, however, as the number of people vaccinated has increased and many Americans have shrugged off concerns about the pandemic, the president has largely resumed business as usual. Last week, he returned from Israel and Saudi Arabia, where he shook hands and hugged many world leaders.
At home, Mr. Biden rarely wears a mask and has held mass events at the White House, even as the nation grapples with a surge in cases of new subvariants that are highly contagious and can more easily evade the protections of the vaccine
His advisers say he has adhered to CDC and District of Columbia guidelines.
In her statement, Ms. Jean-Pierre said officials would report any members of Congress, reporters or others believed to have been in close contact with the president during a trip to Massachusetts on Wednesday.
“Consistent with White House protocol for positive cases of Covid, which goes beyond CDC guidelines, he will continue to work in isolation until he tests negative,” the statement said. “Once he tests negative, he’ll go back to work in person.”
Mr. Biden is tested regularly. His last test was on Tuesday, when he came back negative, officials said Thursday.
It was unclear exactly how he became infected, and White House officials declined to provide detailed information about who he was in contact with in recent days. It is difficult to determine exactly how or when someone contracted the virus.
Mr. Biden had a number of close calls before becoming infected. In March, he attended a gala with Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin, who left after testing positive.
Mr. Biden also attended the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in May, and several attendees tested positive for the virus afterward, including Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken.
Mr. Biden and his top aides have urged people to get vaccinated and get boosters. The vaccine is very effective at preventing people from becoming seriously ill or dying, even when advanced infections occur.
The president and Democratic lawmakers have called on Republicans in Congress to approve emergency coronavirus funding to ensure the United States can buy new vaccines and therapeutics.
Mr. Biden is the second president infected with the coronavirus. In October 2020, President Donald J. Trump tested positive and was flown by helicopter to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he was given steroids and other treatments.
Mr. Trump and his aides downplayed his symptoms at the time, but later reports revealed he was very ill.
Noah Weiland and Katie Rogers contributed to this report.