United States: US President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19, causing him to cancel a campaign event in Las Vegas. There is growing pressure on him to withdraw from the re-election race due to his age.
Biden, 81, is reportedly showing “mild symptoms,” according to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who also said on Wednesday that he will travel to his Delaware home to “self-isolate and continue to carry out all of his duties fully.” According to Jean-Pierre, Biden intended to spend a long weekend at his beach property in Delaware.
Shortly after the announcement, the president’s convoy headed to the airport in Las Vegas. As he climbed onto Air Force One, Biden said to reporters, “Good, I feel good.”
Biden “presented this afternoon with upper respiratory symptoms, to include rhinorrhea and non-productive cough, with general malaise,” as per a note from the president’s doctor, Dr. Kevin O’Connor.
Biden was prescribed the antiviral medication Paxlovid following the positive COVID-19 test, and he has already taken his first dose, according to O’Connor.
The CEO of a Latino civil rights organisation in Las Vegas named Unidos US was the first to announce Biden’s condition. Wednesday afternoon’s convention was where Biden was supposed to appear as part of an attempt to mobilize Latino voters in advance of the election in November.
Unidos CEO Janet Murguia informed the guests that the president had apologised by letter and was unable to attend due to a positive test result for the virus.
The president’s diagnosis was made amid tremendous scrutiny on his health and endurance following a catastrophic debate with former President Donald Trump, which caused Democrats to worry that Biden may not be able to handle the demands of earning another term as president.
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