Former Trump COVID testing czar responds to Biden's diagnosis: 'He is at risk'
Admiral Brett Giroir, former Trump COVID testing czar, joins Dr. Marc Siegel on 'America's Newsroom' to assess President Biden's risks after receiving a COVID diagnosis and the potential side effects of the Paxlovid antiviral.
President Biden flew on Air Force One with several Democratic lawmakers and met with Ukraine First Lady Olena Zelenska this week while potentially contagious with COVID-19.
The White House announced Thursday that the president had tested positive for the virus a day after traveling to Massachusetts to tout his administration's actions on climate change and two days after meeting Zelenska.
"This morning, President Biden tested positive for COVID-19," said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. "He is fully vaccinated and twice boosted and experiencing very mild symptoms."
FAUCI, NOT REALLY RETIRING, SAYS WE MUST LIVE WITH COVID, WARNS GOP CRITICS
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 28: U.S. President Joe Biden gives remarks on providing additional support to Ukraine’s war efforts against Russia from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on April 28, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The positive diagnosis came one day after a busy few days for the White House. On Tuesday, freshly returned from a trip to the Middle East, Biden welcomed the First Lady of Ukraine at the White House.
On Wednesday Biden traveled to New England on board Air Force One with at least 12 lawmakers and White House staffers.
The Harvard Medical School estimates that individuals are highly contagious one or two days before showing symptoms.
"With Omicron, most transmission occurs during the one to two days before the onset of symptoms, and in the two to three days afterward," the school wrote in a recent public awareness campaign.
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 19: (L-R) U.S. first lady Jill Biden, first lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska and U.S. President Joe Biden pose for photos as Zelenska arrives on the South Lawn of the White House July 19, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Traveling with the president on Air Force One were members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, including Democratic Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren. Also on the plane were Democratic Reps. Jake Auchincloss and Bill Keating of Massachusetts.
None of the lawmakers has tested positive to date, but they are taking precautions in case they were infected by the president.
"Senator Markey is testing this morning, as he does regularly, and will remain masked and socially distanced per public health guidelines, said a spokesman for Markey. "Senator Markey is double vaccinated and double boosted."
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US President Joe Biden speaks at the former Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset, Massachusetts, US, on Wednesday, July 20, 2022. Photographer: M. Scott Brauer/Bloomberg via Getty Images (M. Scott Brauer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
As part of the trip, Air Force One landed at an airfield in Rhode Island and traveled to Massachusetts for the speech by car.
Greeting Biden as he deplaned in Rhode Island were two of the state's top Democratic elected officials: Gov. Dan McKee and Sen. Sheldon White House.
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