President Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, one day after delivering a speech full of mistakes that raised health concerns and less than a week after his return from talks with the murderous Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in Saudi Arabia.
As the oldest American president ever, Biden is 79 years old. Despite having received four doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, which lowers the risk, and being treated with the antiviral medication Paxlovid, his advanced age puts him at an increased risk of developing a serious illness or passing away.
Around midday, Biden tweeted a picture of himself with the caption, “Folks, I’m doing great. Thanks for your concern. Just called [Pennsylvania Sen. Bob] Casey, Congressman [Matt] Cartwright, and [Scranton] Mayor [Paige] Cognetti (and my Scranton cousins!) to send my regrets for missing our event today. Keeping busy! ”
An update from me: pic.twitter.com/L2oCR0uUTu
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 21, 2022
Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s coronavirus coordinator, informed pool reporters that Biden had trouble sleeping and had tested positive on Thursday morning. Although Jha informed CNN that Biden doesn’t now have a fever, a PCR test verified the result.
First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Harris tested negative.
Over the years, Biden has experienced a number of medical concerns, including respiratory problems. His asthma might have aggravated the prognosis for COVID-19.
When Biden stunned attendees on Wednesday by revealing that he has cancer during a speech in Massachusetts, the topic of his health was extensively addressed. He was talking about skin cancer that existed prior to his taking office, the White House quickly clarified.
For more than two and a half years during the COVID-19 epidemic, Biden avoided getting sick, in part by conducting much of his presidential campaign from his Wilmington, Delaware home.
Biden has often greeted visitors at the White House without a mask on and shook hands with attendees at events all throughout the country and the world this year.
This year, the virus frequently circled about Biden, particularly when the more infectious but less lethal Omicron form generated record-high infection rates.
Biden was supposed to travel to Pennsylvania to talk about his strategy to combating crime, which was then canceled.
