White House tries to make Biden’s Covid diagnosis a ‘teachable moment’
WASHINGTON (AP) — For more than a year, President Joe Biden's ability to avoid the coronavirus seemed to defy the odds. When he finally did test positive, the White House was ready. It set out to turn the diagnosis into a "teachable moment" and dispel any notion of a crisis.
"The president does what every other person in America does every day, which is he takes reasonable precautions against Covid but does his job," White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told MSNBC late in the afternoon on Thursday.
On Friday, the White House released a new letter from Biden's physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, saying Biden's temperature had registered 99.4 F on Thursday but his fever responded to acetaminophen and has been normal since then. The letter also said Biden had a normal pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation, but it did not provide specific metrics.
O'Connor said Biden was "tolerating treatment well." The president is taking Paxlovid, an anti-viral drug aimed at reducing severity of the disease. Biden still has symptoms including a runny nose, fatigue and a cough, he said.
On Thursday, the White House gave repeated assurances that Biden was hard at work while isolating in the residential areas of the White House with "very mild symptoms" including a runny nose, dry cough and fatigue.
Biden, in a blazer and Oxford shirt, recorded a video from the White House balcony telling people: "I'm doing well, getting a lot of work done. And, in the meantime, thanks for your concern. And keep the faith. It's going to be OK."
"Keeping busy!" he also tweeted.
On Friday, Biden was scheduled to meet virtually with his economic team and senior advisors to discuss congressional priorities.
It was all part of an administration effort to shift the narrative from a health scare to a display of Biden as the personification of the idea that most Americans can get Covid and recover without too much suffering and disruption if they've gotten their shots and taken other important steps to protect themselves.
The message was crafted to alleviate voters' concerns about Biden's health — at 79, he's the oldest person ever to be president. And it was aimed at demonstrating to the country that the pandemic is far less of a threat than it was before Biden took office, thanks to widespread vaccines and new therapeutic drugs.
Conveying that sentiment on Day 1 of Biden's coronavirus experience virus wasn't always easy, though.
In a lengthy briefing with reporters, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said repeatedly that the White House had been as transparent as possible about the president's health. But she parried with reporters over specifics. And when pressed about where Biden might have contracted the virus, she responded, "I don't think that that matters, right? I think what matters is we prepared for this moment."