Biden tests positive for Covid

President Joe Biden has tested positive for Covid-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms, the White House said on Wednesday.

The president was in Nevada and is returning to Delaware to isolate, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

He has already received a dose of Paxlovid.

As he boarded a flight out of Nevada, Biden gave reporters a thumbs-up and said he was feeling “good.”

“I feel good,” he reiterated.

Biden was not wearing a mask at the time.

Biden’s bout with Covid comes as the president battles a widely-held perception among fellow Democrats that he doesn’t have the strength to run for another term. For Democrats, it also serves as an unwelcome contrast to Donald Trump, who last week survived an assassination attempt.

The diagnosis comes on the tail end of a two-day swing in Nevada, where Biden he gave a speech Tuesday at the NAACP’s national convention and later participated in an economic summit alongside Rep. Steven Horsford.

Biden was supposed to give a speech at the UnidosUS annual conference. The appearance has since been canceled.

Biden on Wednesday afternoon taped an interview with Univision and greeted diners at a local restaurant. He tested positive shortly thereafter.

The White House, in a statement attributed to Biden’s doctor, said the president had upper respiratory symptoms, including a runny nose and “non-productive cough.”

“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 for the COVID-19 virus,” the doctor said.

Biden’s respiratory rate and temperature were normal, with a normal pulse oximetry of 97 percent.