(Washington) Being interrupted by a dog on the phone, wondering what you look like on video, and finally being allowed to play sports again: he may be the most powerful man in the world, but the disadvantages of COVID-19 isolation is the same for Joe Biden as it is for everyone else.
Updated yesterday at 8:02 p.m.
On the fifth day of confinement after testing positive for COVID-19, the 79-year-old US president completed treatment with the antiviral drug Paxlovid on Tuesday and “his symptoms have almost completely disappeared”, his doctor Kevin said in a letter. O’Connor.
Joe Biden should be able to come out of isolation as soon as he tests negative and he seems ready, at least psychologically.
In fact, the doctor’s letter, which focuses on medical indicators such as oxygen saturation, pulse and temperature, mentions in passing that he “feels well enough to resume his exercise regimen.”
Unlike his predecessor Donald Trump, who sometimes wondered if gyms weren’t actually bad for your health, Joe Biden does sports every morning, as well as short bike rides on weekends in his stronghold of the Delaware.
“He asked last night to play sports,” his spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday. “He likes to lift dumbbells, he likes to use the treadmill. »
video conference jokes
The news that he tested positive for COVID-19 last week forced him to cancel trips to the United States and reduce working hours at the White House, but his teams insisted that he nevertheless continued to carry out all of his duties.
While waiting to return to work in person this week, the president continued to participate in meetings virtually on Tuesday, including attending a meeting with representatives of South Korean giant SK, which announced $ 22 billion in new investments in the United States. United in the field of semiconductors and other high-tech sectors.
Facing the day visitors and his advisers, Joe Biden appeared on a screen and joked that he was actually in the same building, just a few rooms away.
“I could go out on the balcony and call you in a raised voice,” he said.
Amid important discussions of US-South Korea ties, Joe Biden showcased some of the more human aspects of working from home, which will resonate with many around the world after two years of pandemic.
“I feel great. I hope it shows” on the screen, the president laughed. “I hope I look as good as usual, which is to say not so much. »
Then, during an exchange with SK executives about qualified employees, a bark — likely coming from Joe Biden’s German Shepherd, Commander — briefly interrupted the meeting.
His spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre estimated that he was on the verge of being cured. “It made me smile to see that he wanted to play sports,” she said.