Joe Biden tests positive for Covid-19, White House says

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”.

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”.