Biden tests positive for COVID-19 while campaigning in Las Vegas; ‘mild symptoms’ reported

LAS VEGAS —  President Biden tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling Wednesday in Las Vegas and is experiencing “mild symptoms” from the infection, the White House said.

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden planned to fly to his home in Delaware, where he “will continue to carry out all of his duties fully” while self-isolating.

The news had first been shared by UnidosUS President and Chief Executive Janet Murguía, who told guests at the group’s convention in Las Vegas that Biden had sent his regrets and could not appear because he‘d tested positive for the coronavirus.

Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, said in a note on Wednesday that Biden “presented this afternoon with upper respiratory symptoms, to include rhinorrhea (runny nose) and non-productive cough, with general malaise.”

After the positive COVID-19 test, Biden was prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid and has taken his first dose, O’Connor said.

Biden had been due to speak at the Unidos event in Las Vegas on Wednesday afternoon as part of an effort to rally Latino voters before the November election.

He gingerly boarded Air Force One, and told reporters traveling with him, “I feel good.” The president was not wearing a mask.

Earlier, Biden had visited the Original Lindo Michoacan restaurant in Las Vegas, where he greeted diners and was scheduled to have an interview with Univision.

The president has been vaccinated and is current on his recommended annual booster dose for COVID-19. The vaccines have proved highly effective at limiting serious illness and death from COVID, which has killed more than 1 million people in the U.S. since the pandemic began in 2020.

Paxlovid has been proven to curtail the chances of serious illness and death from COVID-19 when prescribed in the early days of an infection, but has also been associated with rebound infections, in which the virus comes back a few days after clearing up.

Biden tested positive for COVID-19 twice in summer 2022, when he had a primary case and a rebound of the virus.

Health officials have reported recent upticks in emergency room visits and hospitalizations for COVID-19. There has also been a pronounced increase in positive test results in much of the country, particularly the Southwest.

Madhani writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Josh Boak, Stephanie Nano and Zeke Miller contributed to this report.