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White House Gives Update On Biden COVID Diagnosis. Aired 2:30- 3p ET
Aired July 21, 2022 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
DR ASHISH JHA, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATOR: And it's a reminder of the reason that we all work so hard to make sure that every American has the same level of protection that the president has. That every American has the same level of immunity.
And why we have worked so hard to make sure that people have access to life-saving treatments like Paxlovid. These are incredibly important things for the president to have.
They're incredibly important things for every American to have. And we have worked very hard over the last 18 months to make sure we have plenty of vaccines, that we have plenty of therapies, that people can get tested on a regular basis as the president does.
Because testing allows you to identify an infection early and get started with treatment early. And we all know, from medicine, that early treatment is always better.
Let me also take a moment to talk about BA.5. If you listened to me at all in the last couple weeks, you heard me talk a lot about this subvariant of Omicron that is now 70 percent, 80 percent of all infections in the United States.
It's a reminder to everyone, if you are over 50, the way I am, the way many of you might be, if you are over the age of 50, and if you have not gotten a vaccine shot in the year 2022, you need to go get one.
You need to go get one now, because it will dramatically improve your level of protection, reduce your risk of having serious illness. It's the best thing that people can be doing.
Let me just finish by saying, obviously, we work hard to protect the president, make sure he's been vaccinated and boosted, has access to treatments.
We also have been working very, very hard to make sure every American has access to the same things, because every American deserves access to the best vaccines, the best treatments, and they are widely available.
And I want to use this moment to remind everybody of that and to remind everybody to avail themselves of that.
Get vaccinated. If you have a breakthrough infection, get treated. It's the best thing you can do to protect yourself.
Let me stop and take questions.
And I know you will as well.
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We'll both take questions.
Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you so much, Dr. Jha.
Has the president been tested to determine which variant he has? Is it BA.5? If so, what does that say about his prognosis?
JHA: Great question. The virus has been sent off for sequencing. It takes usually about a week for that sequencing to come back under normal circumstances.
He's the president. The sequencing will get prioritized, so we should have answers sooner than that.
But you can't just tell from a regular test what kind of variant. So the sequencing results will be back at some point less than a week from now.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Has the president had to halt any of his regular medications now that he's taking Paxlovid? And what are you doing to mitigate the risk from halting those medications?
JHA: This is a -- I had a conversation about this with Dr. O'Connor. There are two medicines. He's on Eliquis and Crestor, a cholesterol- lowering medicine and a blood thinner. Both of them need to be stopped when you start Paxlovid.
It's very standard, common thing we do when we give people Paxlovid. And you don't need to do anything in those circumstances. They both get stopped for the five days that he's on Paxlovid. And then they get restarted and it's totally fine and pretty normal practice.
Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Where exactly was the president infected?
JHA: Where was he infected? I don't think we know. I certainly don't know.
JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I don't think that matters, right? I think what matters is we were prepared for this moment.
I think what matters is, what Dr. Jha just laid out. If we look at where we were a year and a half ago, this is a president, when he walked in, one of his first priorities was to make sure we had a comprehensive plan to get people vaccinated.
And so now, today, look to today, more and more people are getting closer to having a more normal life. Vaccines are available.
And as Dr. Jha said, if you have not gotten vaccinated, please do. If you have not -- if you have not gotten boosted, please do. These are -- these are treatment that are going to keep you safe.
And I think that's what matters here is making sure that we continue to do the work.
And the good thing is that the president, again, has been vaccinated and double boosted.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: We know that rebound COVID cases have been a concern in some individuals who take Paxlovid.
Are there any precautions you can take to try and prevent that? And how concerned are you that could potentially hinder his return to the office?
JHA: It's a great question. So, let me tell you what we know about rebound. So, we've looked at the clinical data on this because if you look at Twitter, it feels like everybody has rebound.
But it turns out there's actually clinical data, if you look at major health systems that have given out Paxlovid to tens of thousands of people.
Rebound rates are around 5 percent. Some studies say 8 percent, some say 2 percent, but it's in the single digits. It happens. It's not that frequent.
Here is the key point about rebound. When people have rebound, they don't end up in the hospital or particularly sick. And the goal of Paxlovid is to keep people from getting seriously ill.
[14:35:05]
And so, it continues to work. His physician is in charge of taking care of him. Obviously, the president will continue to be monitored as he is.
But the Paxlovid is working really well at preventing serious illness, rebound or no rebound, And that's why he was offered it and that's why the president took it.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You mentioned the symptoms that the president has had so far, runny nose, fatigue, dry cough. What other symptoms are you looking out for at this point? Obviously, this is the beginning of this. And what would warrant hospitalization?
JHA: So, right now, he feels really well. Our expectation is that he's going to continue to have mild illness. And he's going to be monitored for symptoMs.
I mean, if you ask him, you know, kind of every day, I asked him, how is he feeling? Having any other symptoms? He's not. We're going to continue monitoring that. I think that is the plan right now is that he's going to get care the
way he would, I mean -- he's the president, so obviously he gets extra attention. but I don't think we have any expectations of any other symptoms at this point.
(CROSSTALK)
JEAN-PIERRE: Go to the back. Go ahead, April.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I want to follow up on that with a couple questions.
If the president's oxygen level went down, would it be the candidate to go to the hospital?
JHA: I don't -- so, at this point, we don't -- I generally want to avoid hypotheticals. He is breathing well. His oxygen level is normal. And he is, you know, I was going to say resting comfortably. He's not resting comfortably. He's working comfortably in his residence.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: That's not hypothetical in COVID, sir.
And the next question, in this moment, we understand that the incubation of COVID is two to 14 days. Has the White House reached out to those the president has been in contact with, first of all, in- person contact with, in that period of time?
JHA: So, CDC has very clear protocols on this. In terms of when people are contagious, pre-symptoMs.
The White House medical unit is conducting, right now, a contact tracing, and they are contacting every single person who meets the CDC definition of a potentially close contact.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Speaking of the CDC, this last question, the CDC says if you are in a high-risk area, a large swath of the nation is in high-risk area, they recommend wearing masks indoors.
In this White House, we're still seeing people back and forth. D.C. is high. It's in the high category. Is there now a push to tell people to start wearing the masks indoors, especially as the president now we see has COVID?
JHA: I actually, off the top of my head, can't remember where D.C. Is on the orange, yellow, green map, so I'm not going to do this off -- but the bottom line is, we follow CDC guidelines. And the policy at the White House is to follow CDC guidelines in terms of mask wearing based on CDC's COVID community levels.
JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Ashley.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Will the president resume public events in five days if he tests negative, or will the White House be more cautious and have him isolate for ten days? JHA: The plan right now is to follow -- it's actually, we do CDC
guidelines, but we go beyond CDC guidelines. So he's certainly going to isolate for at least five days, and he will return to normal activities after he's had a negative test.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And I'm also curious, what precautions -- we saw that video the president put out. What precautions did you take for the person who filmed the video?
JEAN-PIERRE: Yes, I want to touch on a couple things. Right now, we heard from the doctor, Dr. O'Connor, his personal doctor, and he has mild symptoms and he's continuing to -- continued to do the work of the presidency from his residence. And I think that's important.
And you know, to your question, April, every person reacts to COVID differently, so it is a hypothetical, right? We're going to keep an eye. The doctor's going to keep an eye on him.
I think what's important, though -- and I really want to take this opportunity to say this, and Dr. Jha said this as well -- is that he is vaccinated and he is double boosted, which gives him protection.
What makes it -- puts him in a good position, just like every other American that he fought so very hard for to make sure that we had a comprehensive COVID plan to get people vaccinated, boosted, and also Paxlovid, right?
And so, what we need to know is he has mild symptoms, and he is going to continue to do his work as we've seen for the video.
Ashley, I'm going to take your question right now.
Look, in the video that you saw, there was his videographer was there with him, wore an N-95 mask, had the appropriate distance, the six- feet distance, in the same situation as well with the photo.
And as you saw in the video, he was outside, so we did that outside. And with the photo, he took off his mask so that we can -- so the American people could see him and see directly, you know, see the work that he's doing.
[14:40:09]
And he's sitting at his desk, continuing to do his work, but just wanted to give that.
Go ahead, Dr. Jha.
(CROSSTALK)
JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can I ask whether there was any conversation given to other treatments other than Paxlovid such as the monoclonal -- it's unclear how the two work together. Can you walk through that?
JHA: I think they're two good choices for therapies.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: One or the other?
JHA: I think there are two good choices. There are people who get both. I think this was a decision made by Dr. O'Connor in consultation with certainly the president, the patient.
And I also know that Dr. O'Connor spoke with infectious disease experts at Walter Reid and at George Washington University.
That was all part of the plan, by the way. We had always sort of planned if the president got infected, we would consult with experts. He did, and that was the recommendation that Director O'Connor made and the president accepted that.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What's the option if the case were to worsen? Someone gets Paxlovid, things get worse, can they get a secondary -- (INAUDIBLE)
JHA: In terms of his clinical care, first of all, Dr. O'Connor's going to drive that process with consultation from experts, not just at those institutions, really, around the country.
And I think he's going to make decisions based on what is happening with the president in his condition. Right now, the president's feeling well. He described it himself as feeling fine with mild symptoMs.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: We've seen rebound cases, second courses of Paxlovid. Would the president, if he had a rebound case, in other words, tested positive after testing negative, get a second course of Paxlovid?
JHA: Lot of hypotheticals there. Lots of things that might happen down the road.
(CROSSTALK)
JHA: No, it is hypothetical. The president feels fine right now. I don't think -- you know, I think we will cross that bridge if that happens.
But at this point, really focus on just making sure the president continues to do well.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I'm sorry, just very quickly. Just to clear the timeline. He popped on a routine screening test and then spoke to doctors about his symptoms as opposed to saying, hey, I have symptoms, let's do a test? That's the order?
JHA: He was scheduled to get his test this morning, and he came -- it came back positive. And on questioning, as I understand from Dr. O'Connor, on questioning, reported that, yes, he was having mild symptoMs.
JEAN-PIERRE: And just to add. You guys saw him yesterday. He was in Massachusetts, Somerset, he spoke for 20 minutes in 93-degree weather. It was incredibly hot. He was feeling fine.
Where most of us were looking for water and trying not to pass out, the president was delivering remarks on a very important issue, on climate change, as you all saw.
I do want to add just that as we've stated, Dr. O'Connor, you all will hear -- get daily updates from Dr. O'Connor and how he's doing. So just wanted to add that.
And we'll just continue.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Couple simple questions. Was the president ever identified as a close contact to anybody else in the last 72 to 100 hours?
JHA: Not that I know of.
JEAN-PIERRE: Well, I'll say this. The process is, we are starting our process that we -- our protocol process on close contact.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Was he identified as a close contact to somebody else, though?
JEAN-PIERRE: Oh, to someone else? That part, we would have to find out. I can't speak to.
What I can say is, our process, because, as we all stated, he is now positive, we are doing our process to -- for our close contact components.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How many people have been identified as close contact with him?
JEAN-PIERRE: We are just starting our process.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: To this point, how many have been --
JEAN-PIERRE: I'm just saying, we're just starting our process. I don't have a number to read out to you. He called the members, the congressional members that traveled with him yesterday. But we're just starting out our process right now.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Has anyone else at the White House tested positive this week?
JEAN-PIERRE: Well, as we have -- as we normally do, if they are a close contact to the president, we normally provide that information.
When I tested positive and I was a close contact to -- well, out of abundance of caution, I was not. But because I had traveled with him, we share that information.
But we have a protocol here that we will continue to follow when it comes to who's a close contact to the president and making sure that we make that clear. And in December of last year, when he -- when there was a -- when he was traveling and there was someone who was a close contact to him, we share that as well. So, we've been transparent on that.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: In simple terms, is anybody else in the west wing or at the White House positive now?
JEAN-PIERRE: Right now, all I can tell you, if they are -- our protocol is, if they are a close contact with any of the principals, we share that information.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So, you can't say beyond that?
Let me ask Dr. Jha one final question.
We saw the president's video and I understand the desire of the White House to show the president six feet away. What would your recommendation be?
Should Americans who are positive for COVID, if they are in public or in any place at any time, always wear a mask?
[14:45:01]
JHA: So, the CDC guidance on this is clear. People should isolate and they should be -- they should -- if they're going to be in close contact with anybody else, they should definitely be wearing a mask.
The president was more than six feet away from the camera person, who was wearing an N-95, again in that video that you saw, that was outside. So I think it was, from a safety point of view, very safe thing to do.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you, Doctor.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: If I could ask a question of Dr. Jha.
(CROSSTALK)
JEAN-PIERRE: I'm going to call on everybody. I promise. I'm going to call on everybody.
Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thanks, Karine.
Can you explain the testing cadence and the rationale behind it? Given the rise of BA.5 and the fact that the president's been traveling and having big events, why doesn't he get a daily test?
JHA: The testing cadence is determined by Dr. O'Connor, his personal physician. He gets tested very regularly. I don't really think there's a huge advantage of testing, like, every day.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Had he tested yesterday morning, for example, he might have tested positive in time to not go on that trip and expose any number of people, right?
JHA: The president -- the property behind the president's testing has been both developed by Dr. O'Connor but also has gone through a lot of vetting.
It's what we use to protect the president and those around him, and it's been -- I don't have anything else to say beyond the protocol we have.
JEAN-PIERRE: Look, like Dr. Jha said, it is between -- it is between him and his personal doctor on that protocol. He has a regular cadence as we have spoken about before. We shared with all of you on Tuesday that he tested negative.
And the reason why -- you saw him yesterday. I just said, he was speaking in front of many of your colleagues outside for 20 minutes in a -- on a very, very hot day.
And it wasn't until later in the day, in the evening, that he was feeling a little tired and he was tested today.
Look, this goes back to where we have come from where we started. We have -- the president has done the work to make sure that more than 200 million people in this country have been vaccinated.
More than 100 million people in this country have been boosted. That's because we have a comprehensive plan to make sure people get vaccinated so that they can be protected. And so, that is what's most important here.
He has mild symptoMs. He continues to work. And like many Americans, this is, you know, we have to make sure that we send out message to make sure to get vaccinated and boosted if you haven't yet.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: One more.
Does the president, does the White House, are there any regrets about the amount of time and sort of recent days and past weeks that we've seen him unmasked, shaking hands with people, hugging people, fist bumping, close contact with crowds? In retrospect, was he too casual?
JHA: No.
JEAN-PIERRE: Not at all.
JHA: I mean, look, at this. I've said this before, from this podium. We have incredibly contagious variant, and we've had a protocol that, I think, has done a very good job protecting the president.
The most important part of that protocol, by the way, is making sure that he was up to date on his vaccines and we had access to treatments.
The president wants to get out there and meet American people and engage. And we always said that this was a possibility. I think I even said it from this stage, that this was a possibility. And I think that the protocols have kept him from getting infected.
But we knew this was a possibility with this incredibly contagious variant.
The good news is, and this was always the point, the good news is, his immune system is very well protected given the four vaccine shots he's gotten.
He's getting treatment. He has mild symptoMs. He's feeling fine, his words.
JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Dr. Jha, if I could please ask you about the president's age. He's 79 years old. What level of concerns does that add when someone like him tests positive?
JHA: Very simply, I would begin with, what's his immune status and the -- and what are his access to treatments?
And the bottom line is, given how much immunity he has from vaccines, given that he was started on treatments right away, like, literally, had symptoms this morning, got started on Paxlovid this morning.
I think his -- all of those things very dramatically reduce his risk of serious illness. And that's really the goal here is to prevent serious illness, to keep that risk as low as possible. I think he's gotten that full set of protections.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And in terms of monitoring his oxygen, is that something that will be done hourly, a couple times a day? Walk us through if you could the oxygen levels and the concern that could raise.
JHA: I don't actually know how often. What I will say is he's monitored very regularly. He's feeling well. His oxygen level was checked this morning. It was normal.
[14:50:07]
And the exact sort of frequency of that is between him and his physician and they are making that call.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You said it doesn't matter where he got it. How could it not matter if he got it if it involves contact tracing? This administration is taking it very seriously. How can it not matter?
JEAN-PIERRE: I think what I was trying to say is what's important now is he has mild symptoms. They say working from the residence on behalf of the American people. That's our focus.
Look, we knew this was going to happen. As Dr. Jha said when he joined me in the briefing room not too long ago, he said this is, you know, everyone -- at some point everyone is going to get COVID. What is important is to make sure that you get the treatment that we
have provided for folks. Whether it's make sure you get vaccinated, make sure you get boosted. And then we have Paxlovid made available by this president.
What I'm trying to say is, the moment that we're in right now is what matters, as we are talking about the president and his treatment, how he's feeling, and how he is continuing to work on behalf of the American flick.
I'm going to move to someone else because there's a lot.
Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You said he was feeling fine yesterday during his speech but he started feeling tired later in the evening. I want to clarify. Can you say when he started feeling mild symptoms?
JEAN-PIERRE: I cannot say exactly when that occurred. I could say that, you know, he told us this morning he had a runny nose, dry cough. He was a little bit fatigued. He did say he had restless sleep.
And when that occurred, he got the antigen test, tested positive, and was then given a PCR test. I cannot pinpoint the exact moment.
And, you know, we were transparent. I got the letter from -- we put out a statement as soon as we did the test and were able to put out the information.
So we were transparent in giving out the statement. We were transparent in sending out the letter. We will have daily updates in terms of his status.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I understand that's on the way now. There should be able to give some confirmation of some individuals who are close contact. He was with multiple members yesterday on Air Force One. He was with the first lady of Ukraine as well on Tuesday.
Can you tell us if the vice president was in close contact, if members on the plane were considered close contact?
JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. When it came to the vice president -- she spoke to this earlier today. She gave comments. She spoke with the president. I will let her speak to that.
You heard from the first lady. She's the first lady, and so she spoke -- she said she tested negative. Clearly, she is a close contact.
Look, you know, I'll say this. Our commitment since last July is to disclose when the president or one of the four principles is in close contact as defined by the CDC or when he tests positive, which is what we are doing today.
For example, we're transparent with the vice president when she tested positive, when the second gentleman tested positive. We are doing that right now with him.
We are transparent when President Biden was in close contact with a member I mentioned in December. For privacy reasons, we will not get into more details as it relates to that.
We are starting the process. I don't have a number or list of folks to share with you.
I know some of your colleagues traveled with us. If there are any concerns or questions, feel free to reach out to us. If you have personal questions about yourself, feel free to reach out.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Ashley asked as well, I think, about moving forward, the five-day quarantine. I believe you said he would quarantine for five days and then he would resume when he tests negative. I want the connective tissue here.
If he tests negative on the fifth day, would he resume his schedule as normal?
JHA: Yes. The CDC's guidance is very clear. You have to isolate for five days. The CDC says you can resume five days without a negative test as long as you have a well-fitting mask.
And we go above and beyond that, the White House. The president will get tested. As long as he's isolated for five days, meaning the CDC requirement, we will wait until he gets a negative antigen test before he returns to activity.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How does the White House suggest having a president with COVID? Who has access to him? Is he staying in one room, a series of rooms? What's the physical situation?
[14:55:06]
JEAN-PIERRE: So, as I just stated, he is isolated in the White House residence.
Look, the president can be a president anywhere. It doesn't matter where he's located. He has the technology. He has the tool, what he needs, the communication, what he needs to continue to do his job.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And staffing here, has it been adjusted at all? A few less people around?
JEAN-PIERRE: There's been no change to our protocol as of to date.
(CROSSTALK)
I've got to go around. Your colleagues are going to kill me.
Go ahead. (CROSSTALK)
JEAN-PIERRE: I will go to the back.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I want to parse the timeline a little bit. I think there may be a comma in the doctor's statement, and I just want to clarify. Did he start experiencing the cough last night or all of the symptoms last night?
I guess my question is when did he start experiencing fatigue? When was the first sign of fatigue?
(CROSSTALK)
JHA: I spoke to the doctor. I spoke to the president. You know, my understanding is -- again, his doctor has spent a lot more time with him -- I haven't spent time with the president. I just spoke to him on the phone.
The president felt well all day yesterday. Late in the evening, some amount of team. After a long day of travel, I don't know, there are a lot of late evening where I feel fatigue. I don't know about all of you. He went to bed.
I asked him how he slept. He said he had a bit of a restless night. And this morning, got his routine test that he does.
And then when Dr. O'Connor probed him further on symptoms, because he tested positive, that's what he mentioned, yes, maybe I was a little tired last night.
So I really think his symptoms -- you could say they began late last night or early this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did he have any fatigue, runny nose on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday?
JHA: He felt totally normal, at least to me he said he felt totally normal all day yesterday.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did he experience any fever or brain fog or other symptoms of COVID?
JHA: He's had no fever.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Could we get the president's physician here so we cannot play the game of telephone?
JEAN-PIERRE: I don't think this is a game of telephone. You have Dr. Jha, who is a medical doctor himself, who runs our COVID-19 response. You're going to hear regularly through a statement from Dr. O'Connor.
And so we are going to be transparent as we are -- we are going to be transparent, as we have been.
We put out a statement. We put out a letter from Dr. O'Connor. You have both of us answering your questions. You saw a picture of the president, video of the president.
So we are doing this very differently. And we will continue to provide information for all of you and also the American public.
I'm going to continue to go around.
Go ahead.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: All right, White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, and the White House COVID coordinator, Dr. Ashish Jha, taking questions about the president's diagnosis.
Let's bring back now CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN medical analyst, Dr. Leana Wen, and CNN chief White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins.
Sanjay, first to you.
Dr. Jha said the president has been working all morning, says he feels fine. What do you hear?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. He is saying these are mainly mild symptoms, that he expects them not to worsen giving the amount of immunity he has from the vaccines and the boosters.
And they're going to wait until he tests negative before he would come out of isolation. That's basic live what I heard.
What was interesting as well is the testing. This came up a few times. It sounds like President Biden tested negative on Tuesday. Tested positive this morning, as we know, but may have had some symptoms prior to that.
That's relevant for a couple of reasons. One is it's important to know when he may have been contagious. People can be contagious two days before they develop symptoMs.
But also to give an idea how long he is likely to stay positive will have a negative test. Those are the big things.
They spent an amount of time saying, hey, look, this is what the president gets. Everyone has access to this as well. That's what Dr. Jha spent most of his time talking about.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Dr. Wen, that's what we wondered, how long do we think if -- let's pretend that the president just had symptoms this morning when he woke up. We know he had something of a fitful night.
That means, as Sanjay just said, he was contagious yesterday and Tuesday. Though he had tested negative.
And yesterday, I mean, we have video of this event. He was with a lot of people. He was shaking hands. He was speaking very closely. It was outside. [14:59:50]
But I would imagine contact tracing is going to be difficult. And how many of those people do you think will end up with COVID now, Dr. Wen?
DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: It's really hard to say. Because there are a couple of things happening here.
So I think it's really reassuring that President Biden tested negative on Tuesday. It's unlikely on Tuesday he had a high enough viral load to test positive.
