The White House announced that President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 while visiting Las Vegas and is experiencing “mild symptoms” of the infection.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden would fly back to his Delaware home and “self-isolate while continuing to perform his full duties.”
The news was first broken by Unidos US president and CEO Jeanette MurguÃa, who told attendees of the group’s conference in Las Vegas that Biden regrettably could not attend because he had tested positive for the virus.
The president’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, said in a memo that Biden “visited the hospital this afternoon complaining of upper respiratory symptoms, including runny nose and dry cough, and general fatigue.”
Dr O’Connor said Biden was prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovir and had received his first dose after testing positive for COVID-19.
Biden was scheduled to speak at a Unidos event in Las Vegas on Wednesday afternoon as part of an effort to rally Hispanic voters ahead of the November election.
Instead, he took off to the airport to fly to Delaware, where he planned to spend a long weekend at his home in Rehoboth Beach.
Biden carefully boarded the presidential plane, Air Force One, telling reporters on board that he was “feeling good.”
The president was not wearing a mask when he boarded Air Force One.
Earlier, the president was scheduled to visit the Original Lindo Michoacan restaurant in Las Vegas, where he was scheduled to greet guests and give an interview to Univision.
