US President Joe Biden tested positive for Covid-19 while travelling on Wednesday in Las Vegas and is experiencing “mild symptoms” from the infection, the White House said.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said 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”.
“I feel good,” 81-year-old Biden said, giving reporters the thumbs up as he leaned out of his limousine dubbed “The Beast” before boarding Air Force One to head for his Rehoboth beach house.
The illness comes as Biden faces growing pressure to drop his re-election bid against Donald Trump after a disastrous debate performance sparked concerns about his age and health.
Biden has been losing ground in battleground states against Trump, who is headlining a triumphant Republican convention this week after he survived an assassination attempt on Saturday.
The White House said Biden planned to spend a long weekend at his Delaware home. It was unclear how long the sickness would keep him for the campaign trail.
The news had first been shared by Unidos US President and CEO Janet Murguia, who told guests at the group’s convention in Las Vegas that president had sent his regrets and could not appear because he tested positive for the virus.
Dr Kevin O’Connor, the president’s doctor, said in a note 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 was slated to speak at the Unidos event in Las Vegas Wednesday afternoon as part of an effort to rally Hispanic voters ahead of the November election.
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.
Biden is locked in a battle with some fellow Democrats who worry he is too old to seek re-election and want him to step aside in favour of another candidate.
He suffered a blow earlier in the day when a prominent Democratic member of the US House of Representatives, Adam Schiff of California, said it was time for Biden to “pass the torch” to someone else.
ABC News reported on Wednesday that Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told Biden in a one-on-one meeting on Saturday it would be better for the country and the Democratic Party if he ended his re-election campaign.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Reuters
