President Biden Tests Positive For COVID-19

WASHINGTON, DC — President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a statement released by the White House on Thursday.

Biden, who is fully vaccinated and received two booster doses, is experiencing "very mild symptoms," including a runny nose, cough, and fatigue, according to a letter from White House physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor.

The 79-year-old president is taking Paxlovid, an antiviral drug designed to reduce the severity of the disease. When administered within five days of symptoms appearing, Paxlovid, produced by drugmaker Pfizer, is proven to reduce hospitalizations and deaths among high-risk individuals by nearly 90 percent.

O'Connor wrote in his letter about the president's treatment plan: “I anticipate that he will respond favorably” to Paxlovid “as most maximally protected patients do.”

"Folks, I'm doing great!"Biden said in a tweet Thursday. "Thanks for your concern."

Biden will isolate at the White House while continuing to work remotely, according to the statement. He will return to in-person work once he tests negative.

The White House took steps to show that the president was busy working despite his diagnosis, with Biden tweeting out a picture of himself making calls from the treaty room of the White House.

The president spoke by phone to lawmakers in Pennsylvania, apologizing for having to cancel his planned trip Thursday to the city of Wilkes-Barre to promote his crime prevention plans. Biden also called South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn to wish him a happy birthday and congratulate him on receiving an award from the NAACP.

The office of first lady Jill Biden told Politico she tested negative Thursday morning.

"She is a close contact (of President Biden.) But she is following CDC guidance when it comes to masking and distancing and keeping her schedule in Michigan and Georgia today," the aide told Politico.

White House staff is working to identify anyone else who had close contact with the president Thursday, including journalists and members of Congress.

Biden's last COVID test was Tuesday, which was negative, the statement read.

Biden is far from the first world leader — and not the first U.S. president — to get coronavirus, which has infected British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and more than a dozen other leaders and high-ranking officials globally.

Biden’s predecessor, President Donald Trump, contracted the disease in October 2020. At the time, vaccines were not available and treatment options were limited and less advanced.

After being diagnosed with COVID-19 at the White House, Trump was given an experimental antibody treatment and steroids after his blood oxygen levels fell dangerously low. He was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for three days.

After more than two years and over a million deaths, the virus is still killing an average of 353 people a day in the United States, according to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention.

The highly transmissible omicron variant is the dominant strain in the United States, but scientists say it poses a lower risk for severe illness to those who are up to date on their vaccinations. Omicron's BA.5 sub-strain, believed to be even more contagious, now makes up more than 65 percent of U.S. cases.

RELATED: Omicron BA.5 Subvariant: 'Superpower Is Reinfection,' More To Know

The Associated Press contributed to this report.