About 90 minutes after it was announced that he had twice tested negative for the coronavirus on Wednesday, Biden emerged from the White House residence and triumphantly walked along the West Colonnade to the sound of “Hail to the Chef” before taking his place at a podium in the Rose Garden of the White House. “Fortunately… my symptoms were mild, my recovery was quick and I feel great,” he said, addressing an audience made up mostly of his administration officials. Mr Biden noted that he was infected with the BA.5 variant, which is linked to the Omicron variant of the virus that wreaked havoc in the US this winter, and said the highly contagious nature of this latest Sars-CoV-2 variant means it will spread widely in the US population regardless of preventive measures. “This new strain that infected me is infecting many people around the world, not just here in the United States,” Biden said. “The reality is that many of us will still get Covid, even if we take precautions – that doesn’t mean we’re doing anything wrong.” The president noted that he was able to stay on the job throughout his five-day isolation period, calling his ability to work while undergoing treatment “a real statement about where we are in the fight against Covid.” Biden’s time with the coronavirus has been a stark contrast to what his predecessor, Donald Trump, went through after contracting the infection in October 2020. At the time, Mr. Trump — who eschewed a mask and other mitigation measures as he campaigned for re-election — became so ill that doctors insisted he be flown by helicopter to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Mr Trump chose to fly there while he was still able to go under his own power to avoid being photographed in a wheelchair by the press, and was so ill at the time that government officials had to arrange for him to receive a monoclonal antibody. treatment that was not available to the general public. The president noted the contrast between his fight with Covid and Mr Trump’s and attributed his own quick recovery to vaccinations and treatments his administration has worked to make widely available. including the antiviral he was treated with, Paxlovid. “When my predecessor got Covid, he had to be airlifted to Walter Reed Medical Center. He was seriously ill. Fortunately, he recovered,” he said. “I got Covid and worked upstairs in the White House… for the five-day period.” Biden said the difference between his experience and Mr Trump’s came from “vaccinations, of course” as well as “three new tools” that are “free to all and widely available”: Covid-19 vaccinations, testing and antiviral treatment Paxovid. “You don’t have to be president to use these tools for your defense,” he said. In fact, the same booster shots, the same home tests, the same treatment I got. It is available to you.” The president also boasted about the steps his administration has taken to bring the virus under control, calling the situation in the US today “radically different” than what Americans faced just a year ago. “Boosters weren’t available a year ago. It’s everywhere now. Everyone five years of age and older should receive a booster shot. If you are over 50, you should get two booster shots,” he said. “We’ve made the tests widely available so you can get one before attending a large indoor gathering or visiting high-risk people. We have free high quality masks. Therefore, you should consider wearing a mask when in a crowded indoor public space. These precautions add an extra layer of protection for you and those around you.” “What’s different now is our ability to protect ourselves from serious illness due to Covid… that’s radically different today than it was just a year ago,” he said, adding that although the coronavirus “not gone”, deaths from Covid -19 are 90 percent lower than this time last year. “Our fight against Covid is making a huge difference,” Mr Biden said, adding that “what is different now is our ability to protect ourselves” from “serious diseases”. Continuing, the president said his administration has “left no stone unturned in our fight against this pandemic” and credited the work of his staff in helping American life return to a degree of normalcy. “Grandmothers and grandmothers are embracing their children and grandchildren again, weddings [and] birthday celebrations are again in person. So let us continue to emerge from one of the darkest moments in our history with hope and light for what may come,” he said.
