President Biden Test Positive for COVID; 3,836 New Cases in New Jersey

President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a White House statement released July 21.

President Biden, who is fully vaccinated and twice boosted, is experiencing very mild symptoms and has begun taking Paxlovid. Consistent with CDC guidelines, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the President will isolate at the White House and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time.  

The 79-year-old Democrat’s last previous test for COVID was July 19, when he had a negative test result. Since that test, the only out of town event listed on his public schedule was a trip to Rhode Island and Massachusetts on July 20. The President made his first trip to the Middle East last week, with stops in Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Working in White House

The President had been scheduled to fly to Pennsylvania for a speech about gun violence and then to travel to his home in Wilmington, DE, where he was expected to stay for the weekend.

The White House said he has been in contact with members of the White House staff by phone this morning, and will participate in his planned meetings at the White House this morning via phone and Zoom from the residence. 

Summer Surge

Consistent with White House protocol for positive COVID cases, the President will continue to work in isolation until he tests negative.  Once he tests negative, he will return to in-person work. Administration officials said they would provide a daily update on the President’s status as he continues to carry out the full duties of the office while in isolation.

Biden is the second consecutive President to test positive. Donald Trump announced Oct. 2, 2020, that he had tested positive for coronavirus. Trump would later that day be transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he spent the weekend and received various treatments. He returned to the White House on Oct. 5.

Biden’s positive test comes during a Summer surge is underway in the U.S., with the BA.5 subvariant has gone from a blip in U.S. case counts to the dominant subvariant in the country in eight weeks, now making up more than three-quarters of new cases. Perhaps the most transmissible subvariant yet, it is pushing up positive tests, hospitalizations and intensive care admissions across the country. 

There is no evidence that BA.5 causes more severe disease, but the latest metrics certainly bust the myth that the virus will become milder as it evolves, according to experts.

New Jersey COVID-19 cases:

New daily PCR cases: 3,836; Probable Cases: 820

Total Cases: 2,560,841 (2,185,151 PCR cases, 375,690 probable cases)

New Confirmed Deaths: 7 (7 probable deaths, 34,196 total deaths)

Rate of Transmission: 1.09, down from 1.11 the day before

Percent Positivity: 18.2% as of July 16; by region, the rate was 18.2% in the North, 18.8% in the Central region and 17.4% in the South

By County:

Bergen County: 463 New Cases, 106 Probable Cases, 3,187 deaths, 336 probable deaths 

Essex County: 436 New Cases, 62 Probable Cases, 3,331 deaths, 313 probable deaths 

Hudson County: 336 New Cases, 30 Probable Cases, 2,528 total deaths, 221 probable deaths 

Morris County: 185 New Cases, 43 Probable Cases, 1,278 deaths, 306 probable deaths 

Passaic County: 283 New Cases, 42 Probable Cases, 2,163 deaths, 204 probable deaths 

Sussex County: 40 New Cases, 11 Probable Cases, 404 deaths, 98 probable deaths 

Warren County: 31 New Cases, 7 Probable Cases, 319 deaths, 27 probable deaths

Hospitals 

Hospitalizations: 1,075 (442 North, 336 Central and 297 South)  

Patients in intensive care units: 114

Patients on ventilators: 38

Patients discharged: 197

The state dashboard showed all 71 hospitals in the state reporting

Long-term Care Facilities

Facilities currently reporting one case: 376 (2,964 overall)

Current number of residents: 4,896 (52,842 overall)

Current number of staffers: 5,017 (42,708 overall)

Number of Deaths: 9,414 overall (8,667 reported by facilities,139 staff deaths)

Vaccine 

Total number of COVID-19 vaccines administered in New Jersey: 14,627,406(14,122,223 in-state, plus an additional 505,183 administered out-of-state)

Fully Vaccinated: 6,972,339 (6,767,592 in state and another 204,747 out of state). By county,  735,697 in Bergen County, 606,875 in Essex, 540,579 in Hudson, 393,109 in Morris, 366,365 in Passaic, 94,254 in Sussex, and 62,131 in Warren.

Booster Shots: 4,113,395 (2,268,598 Pfizer, 1,771,543 Moderna and 73,254 Johnson & Johnson)