LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19.
Organizers at UnidosUS made the announcement shortly before the President was set to take the stage in Las Vegas.
The President’s Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said he is experiencing “mild symptoms” and will be returning to Delaware to self-isolate.
Biden said he was feeling okay earlier in the day Wednesday, but then his symptoms got worse and decided to test for COVID-19.
The President has already received his first dose of Paxlovid for treatment.
Air Force One was seen taking off around 3:30 p.m. in Las Vegas. According to reporters on Air Force One, the President was unmasked and said, “I feel good,” when asked how he was doing.
PRESIDENT’S VISIT
The President visited multiple locations while in Las Vegas.
On Tuesday, the President spoke at Mandalay Bay for the NAACP Conference before going to College of Southern Nevada for a campaign event with Rep. Steve Horsford.
Then Wednesday, the President was at the Lindo Michoacan restaurant before he was set to speak at the UnidosUS Conference at MGM Grand. Biden never made it to the conference and was set to speak at 1:30 p.m.
BIDEN’S COVID HISTORY
Biden has been vaccinated and is current on his recommended annual booster dose for COVID-19. The vaccines have proven highly effective at limiting serious illness and death from the virus, which 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, where the virus comes back a few days after clearing up.
Biden last tested positive for COVID-19 twice in the summer of 2022, when he had a primary case and a rebound case of the virus.
Health officials have reported recent upticks in emergency room visits and hospitalizations from COVID-19. There has also been a pronounced increase in positive test results in much of the country — particularly the southwestern U.S.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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