Washington: US President Joe Biden, who is under pressure from members of his own party to end his re-election bid, tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday (Local time) after his visit to Las Vegas and is experiencing mild symptoms, according to the White House. The 81-year-old President will now be returning to Delaware where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry on his duties, said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
"Earlier today following his first event in Las Vegas, President Biden tested positive for COVID-19. He is vaccinated and boosted and he is experiencing mild symptoms. He will be returning to Delaware where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time," said Jean-Pierre.
Taking to X, Biden said, "I tested positive for COVID-19 this afternoon, but I am feeling good and thank everyone for the well wishes. I will be isolating as I recover, and during this time I will continue to work to get the job done for the American people."
According to the White House statement, the President was experiencing upper respiratory symptoms, including rhinorrhoea (runny nose) and non-productive cough, with general malaise. 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, his doctor said in a statement. Biden has received his first dose of Paxlovid.
As he boarded Air Force One to depart Las Vegas to recuperate in Delaware, Biden told reporters: "Good, I feel good." However, he climbed the stairs slowly, holding the railing tightly and pausing a few steps in and again towards the top. The illness comes at a crucial time for Biden, as he is losing ground in battleground states against his Republican rival Donald Trump, who is headlining a successful convention after surviving an assassination attempt.
Growing number of Democrats want Biden to end re-election bid
Biden had greeted a couple of dozen people at a Mexican restaurant prior to going into the radio interview. He was running late to deliver a speech to the Latino civil rights group UnidosUS when the organizer, Janet Murguia, announced he had tested positive for COVID-19, which was met with disappointment in the conference room.
According to a new AP-NORC poll, nearly two-thirds of Democrats say President Joe Biden should withdraw from the presidential race and let his party nominate a different candidate, underscoring the challenges of the President as he tries to silence calls from within his own party to leave the race and tries to convince Democrats that he’s the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump.
While over two dozen Democrats have expressed concerns over his mental fitness for office and called on him to withdraw after his poor performance in the June 27 presidential debate, the most stunning blows came as prominent Democrat lawmaker Adam Schiff said it was time for him to "pass the torch" to someone else. US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has also told Biden that it would be better for the country and the Democratic Party if he ended his reelection campaign, according to ABC News.
Some 58 per cent of Democratic registered voters told a Reuters-Ipsos poll they believed that Biden is too old to work in government - 70 per cent of independent registered voters agreed. The diminishing support for Biden's candidacy significantly changed when Trump was targeted in an assassination attempt on Saturday.
(with inputs from agencies)
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