President Joe Biden tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday, interrupting a significant campaign event aimed at bolstering support among Latino voters at a crucial point in the election. Biden, 81, was experiencing mild symptoms and began taking his first dose of the antiviral medication Paxlovid, according to his doctor.
"I feel good," Biden, who is fully vaccinated and boosted, told reporters in Las Vegas, giving a thumbs-up before boarding Air Force One to return to his residence in Delaware. The president will self-isolate there following the guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Biden and his team have frequently highlighted his recent campaign stops to demonstrate his energy as the presumptive Democratic nominee, attempting to alleviate growing concerns within the party. Wednesday’s event in Las Vegas, where he was scheduled to speak at the UnidosUS annual conference, was intended to showcase his direct engagement with a diverse coalition.
However, the UnidosUS event was abruptly halted with the announcement of Biden’s positive Covid-19 test following a busy day that included an interview and meeting voters at a local supermarket.
“I was just on the phone with President Biden. He expressed his deep disappointment at not being able to join us this afternoon. The president has attended many events, and he just tested positive for Covid,” UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguía told attendees, to audible gasps, after Biden was an hour and a half late to his scheduled appearance onstage.
It remains unclear where and when the president contracted Covid-19. This sudden diagnosis will confine him during a period when Democratic lawmakers are eager to see him actively campaigning.
The CDC advises staying home until the infected person has been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications and symptoms have been improving for 24 hours. It also recommends wearing a mask for five days thereafter.
Regarding Biden’s upcoming schedule and his ability to stay engaged, a White House official informed CNN that the president has previously managed Covid-19 by conducting numerous video calls, a practice expected to continue in the coming days. A campaign source also told CNN that the Biden campaign will adapt and conduct as much as possible remotely.
Biden was also at his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, residence last weekend, making calls to key groups of lawmakers, some of whom still have significant concerns about his viability as a candidate.
The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump temporarily halted public calls for Biden to step aside as the party’s presumptive nominee, but these calls resumed as Biden returned to the campaign trail this week.
Just hours before the White House announced Biden’s Covid-19 diagnosis, California Rep. Adam Schiff, a Senate candidate and former House Intelligence chairman, became the most prominent elected Democrat to publicly call for the president to withdraw from the race.
As Trump prepares to accept the GOP nomination for president at this week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Democratic concerns persist about Biden’s ability to defeat him and the potential impact on down-ballot races in November.
Despite growing frustration and panic within the Democratic Party following Biden’s troubling debate performance in Atlanta nearly three weeks ago, the White House and the Biden campaign are navigating a new landscape, multiple Democratic officials told CNN.
“The private conversations with the Hill are continuing,” a senior Democratic adviser told CNN, speaking anonymously to avoid alienating the campaign and the White House. “He’s being receptive, not as defiant as he is publicly.”
“He’s gone from saying, ‘Kamala can’t win,’ to ‘Do you think Kamala can win?’” the adviser said. “It’s still unclear where he’s going to land, but he seems to be listening.”
Despite Biden’s diagnosis, Vice President Kamala Harris was set to keep her Thursday appearance at a campaign event in Fayetteville, North Carolina, as planned, an administration staffer said Wednesday evening. Harris’ husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month, though the vice president tested negative at that time.
Biden, who was seen not wearing a mask before boarding Air Force One on Wednesday, was later wearing one in the car and on the flight to Delaware, a White House official reported.
Biden exhibited “upper respiratory symptoms, including a runny nose and non-productive cough, with general malaise,” according to a note from his doctor provided by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
“He felt okay for his first event of the day, but given that he was not feeling better, point-of-care testing for Covid-19 was conducted, and the results were positive,” the note continued.
The president first tested positive for Covid-19 in July 2022 and experienced a rebound case shortly afterward.
Biden has received multiple Covid-19 vaccine booster shots, the most recent in September 2023, according to his physician. During his first bout with the virus, he experienced mild symptoms, including a runny nose, fatigue, high temperature, and cough, and was treated with Paxlovid.
Covid-19 levels have been rising nationwide in recent weeks, according to the CDC. The latest data shows a 23.5% increase in emergency visits for Covid-19 during the week ending July 6 compared to the previous week. The CDC also reports that the national viral activity level for Covid-19 in wastewater is high as of July 6.
