United States President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, 21 July and is experiencing "very mild symptoms," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Biden, who is fully vaccinated and twice boosted, is isolating at the White House and will "continue to carry out all his duties fully," Pierre added.
While this is the first time Biden has tested positive for COVID-19, the 79-year-old has begun taking Pfizer Inc’s Paxlovid treatment for the disease.
He returned this week from a Saudi Arabia and Israel trip, following which he travelled to Massachusetts to promote his measures addressing climate change. He was slated to visit Pennsylvania on Thursday to deliver a speech on gun safety and crime.
First lady Jill Biden tested negative on Thursday morning, CNN reported.
"I talked to him just a few minutes ago. He's doing fine, he's feeling good," she said updating reporters in Detroit about Biden's condition.
COVID Impact on Biden Administration
COVID-19 continues to impact White House staffers, Congress and Cabinet members. Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive earlier this year.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House Domestic Policy Adviser Susan Rice contracted the virus after the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington in April.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Attorney General Merrick Garland, former White House press secretary Jen Psaki and several others have been infected in the last few months.
Interestingly, White House officials had acknowledged the possibility of the President contracting COVID-19 at some point but had emphasised the precautions being taken to protect him.
"The bottom line is he is vaccinated and boosted. He is very well protected. He's got very good protocols around him to protect him from getting infected. But there is no 100% anything," White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Dr Ashish Jha had said, according to CNN.
(With inputs from CNN.)
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