President Joe Biden has tested positive for Covid-19 while travelling in Las Vegas and is experiencing “mild symptoms” from the infection, the White House said.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Mr Biden will fly to his home in Delaware, where he will “self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time”.
The news had first been shared by UnidosUS president and CEO Janet Murguia, who told guests at the group’s convention in Las Vegas that Mr Biden had sent his regrets and could not appear because he tested positive for the virus.
Dr Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, said in a note that Mr Biden “presented this afternoon with upper respiratory symptoms, to include rhinorhea (runny nose) and non-productive cough, with general malaise”.
After the positive Covid-19 test, Mr Biden was prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid and has taken his first dose, Dr O’Connor said.
Mr Biden was due to speak at the Unidos event in Las Vegas on Wednesday afternoon as part of an effort to rally Hispanic voters ahead of the November election.
Instead, he departed for the airport to fly to Delaware, where he had already been planning to spend a long weekend at his home in Rehoboth Beach.
Mr Biden gingerly boarded Air Force One and told reporters travelling with him: “I feel good.”
The president was not wearing a mask as he walked onto Air Force One.
The president had previously been at the Original Lindo Michoacan restaurant in Las Vegas, where he was greeting diners and was scheduled to have an interview with Univision.