Over the last two weeks, the coronavirus has crept ever closer to Biden, disrupting White House operations just as the country and the administration have been relaxing strict safeguards against covid-19. The cluster of cases highlights the continued threat posed by the virus, complicating White House efforts to signal that the country has turned the corner on the pandemic.
After years of modeling strict precautions, including campaigning for months from his basement in Wilmington, Del., before vaccines were available, Biden is now at a higher risk of being infected, experts say, with all the personal and political consequences that would entail — though as with other vaccinated people, an infection could be less severe.
“There’s very little doubt that the president could contract covid-19,” said Lawrence Gostin, faculty director of the O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law at Georgetown Law, who is in regular touch with Biden’s covid-prevention team.
The 79-year-old Biden’s vaccination status could help the president avoid serious infection, he said. “But even that is in doubt, given his age and obvious frailty,” Gostin added. “I would be far more worried about the president’s health than it appears from recent White House protocols.”
The White House dropped its mask mandate in the beginning of the month, following relaxed guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Protection and the end of Washington’s mandatory indoor mask requirement.
Biden does at times persist in wearing a mask behind closed doors, according to one White House aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal presidential habits. During Biden’s meetings, aides still stand far away from him, and anyone meeting with any of the four principals are tested for the virus ahead of time, according to a different White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly.
In disclosing their diagnoses, both Psaki and Jean-Pierre said they had “socially distanced” meetings with Biden the previous day. Employees who test positive must test negative before returning to the White House, the official said.
When he met with union leaders at the Hotel Du Pont in Wilmington this month, the president was not wearing a mask, according to a person who was there and photographs of the event. Delaware dropped its mask mandate in February, and the union officials all had coronavirus tests before meeting with Biden, attendees said.
In upcoming weeks Biden is expected to amp up his domestic travel, a priority he outlined in January that has been delayed several times largely due to world events. Those plans will by design put him in contact with more people.
“There’s no question the risk has increased,” said Celine Gounder, an infectious-disease specialist at New York University who served on Biden’s covid advisory board during the presidential transition.
She said that if Biden takes precautions, including wearing a mask in the West Wing and interacting with people who are tested frequently, he should remain fairly safe. “It is still very unlikely he would have serious issues,” Gounder said. “He’s very healthy.”
Biden’s age puts him at risk for a more difficult case of covid, should he get it. But he does not have Type 2 diabetes, nor is he immunocompromised, two big risk factors.
The complex mix of factors facing Biden in some ways matches the pressures confronting his administration more broadly — the political need to signal that the United States is moving beyond the pandemic for good, offset by the undeniable persistence of at least some risk.
That balancing act could come to a head for Biden when the country observes its 1 millionth death from covid, a grim milestone that is expected within weeks. The president will need to balance an observance of tragedy, a message of victory and a plea for caution.
The White House, reflecting the diminished sense of emergency, has pared back the previously daily covid calls among top officials and has reduced the frequency of public briefings on the topic.
For now, the administration’s top priority on coronavirus is pushing for congressional approval of a $22 billion package that includes additional vaccine doses and preparations for another potential surge.
During his State of the Union address at the beginning of the month — delivered to a crowded and mostly unmasked House chamber — Biden hit a newly upbeat tone on the virus.
“Because of the progress we’ve made, because of your resilience and the tools we have, tonight I can say we are moving forward safely, back to more normal routines,” Biden said.
A distinctive element of the pandemic’s current phase is infections that are more frequent but less severe, at least for those who’ve been vaccinated and boosted, as Biden has. Outside the White House, several top Democrats have announced recently they’ve been hit by covid, using the occasion to tout the benefits of the vaccine.
Former president Barack Obama came down with a case March 13. “I’ve had a scratchy throat for a couple days, but am feeling fine otherwise,” he wrote in a social media post, adding that it could have been far worse if he were not vaccinated.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton announced her case a week later, describing “some mild cold symptoms.” She, too, credited the vaccines for preventing more dire symptoms.
Those cases contrast sharply with President Donald Trump’s coronavirus infection in fall 2020, which he contracted after openly flouting health precautions and mocking people who took them. Trump became ill before vaccines were available and had to be hospitalized.
For Democrats, high-profile cases contracted by leaders of the party that made covid prevention central to its brand can feel discordant, even if they capture the reality that the disease is becoming more common and less lethal for those who are vaccinated and boosted.
As it eases into the next phase, the White House has restarted some of the typical events and traditions that were suspended for much of Biden’s first year in office.
In February, when several hundred supporters crowded into the East Room of the White House for a Black History Month event that Biden attended, most wore masks in keeping with the White House rules at the time.
But this month, Biden appeared at a gala for the Ireland Funds in Washington, an indoor event that included a meal and unmasked crowds. That’s where the president spoke with Martin, the Irish leader, who had to abruptly leave the dinner after learning about his positive result.
The White House noted that the interaction with Martin was shorter than 15 minutes, which is part of the CDC’s definition of a “close contact.” At the same gala, the Irish leader sat next to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who is 82. Both she and Biden later tested negative for the coronavirus.
The White House pledged last July to publicly disclose any instances of coronavirus-positive individuals who come in “close contact” with Biden, Vice President Harris or their spouses.
Emhoff, who tested positive for March 15, remains the only one of the four principals in the Biden White House to contract the virus. That evening, Harris skipped a White House event celebrating Women’s History Month out what a Harris spokeswoman called “an abundance of caution.”
Meanwhile, Americans who travel to Poland are advised to wear a “well fitting mask” in public indoor settings, according to the CDC website. But Biden was photographed maskless at an indoor venue in Poland as he shared a slice of pizza to boost the morale of U.S. troops who surrounded him — and also didn’t wear face coverings.
“Avoid travel to Poland,” the CDC’s website advises. “Even if you are up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines, you may still be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19.”
During this trip to Europe, Biden’s principal press secretary, Jean-Pierre, contracted the virus. She did not appear at Monday’s press briefing, which she had been scheduled to handle in Psaki’s absence.
Gounder, who is also a senior fellow and editor at large for public health at Kaiser Health News, said that boosting Biden every three to four months, even if that’s not recommended for the general population, might be advisable. “Presidential medicine is its own category,” she said. “It’s not what we do for VIPs or the public.”
Tyler Pager contributed to this report.
COVID-19 - Latest - Google News
March 30, 2022 at 12:32AM
https://ift.tt/S6DPdpi
Covid creeps closer to Biden as restrictions fall - The Washington Post
COVID-19 - Latest - Google News
https://ift.tt/5vMAVcb
No comments:
Post a Comment