Biden tests positive for COVID-19

President Joe Biden has tested positive for Covid-19, the White House said Thursday.

The 79-year-old president, who is fully vaccinated and has received two booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine, is experiencing “very mild symptoms,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. Biden previously tested negative on Tuesday.

On Thursday afternoon, Biden’s official Twitter account shared a photo of the president seated at a desk and smiling, along with the assurance, “Folks, I’m doing great. Thanks for your concern.”

Shortly after, the account posted a video of Biden speaking from a White House balcony. “Keep the faith, it’s going to be okay,” he said.

Biden has begun taking Pfizer’s Paxlovid, an antiviral pill that can reduce the risk of hospitalization for people who test positive for Covid, the press secretary said.

The president’s symptoms include a dry cough, runny nose and fatigue, White House physician Kevin O’Connor said in a memorandum. Those symptoms began Wednesday evening, O’Connor said.

“I anticipate that he will respond favorably, as most maximally protected patients do,” the physician added.

First lady Jill Biden told reporters in Detroit on Thursday morning that her husband is “feeling good.”

“I talked to him just a few minutes ago, he’s doing fine,” Jill Biden said. She is considered a close contact to the president, but tested negative for Covid on Thursday and is following CDC social distancing guidelines, her office said.

Biden will work in isolation until he tests negative for the virus, Jean-Pierre said. He will hold all of his planned meetings remotely Thursday.