After testing positive for COVID-19 on Friday morning, the White House issued a fresh image of President Joe Biden working from home.
The latest picture shows Biden signing the FORMULA Act somewhere on Thursday while wearing a mask.
Tariffs on imported infant formula are momentarily eliminated under the measure.
According to Chinese official broadcaster CCTV, Chinese President Xi Jinping called Biden on Friday to wish him a “speedy recovery.”
According to AFP, Xi remarked, “I would want to offer my heartfelt sympathy to you and wish you a swift recovery.”
On Wednesday, Biden said he will speak with the Chinese president within the next 10 days but would not say whether he had decided to keep or terminate the tariffs imposed on China under the Trump administration.
As their relationship has deteriorated on topics like Taiwan, Ukraine, and other ones, Xi’s note marked the first communication between the two presidents in four months.
On March 18, Biden and Xi, who have known each other for years, spoke via video chat, during which Biden urged Xi not to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is rumoured to be preparing a trip to Taiwan next month, according to Zhao Lijiang, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry.
According to Zhao, Pelosi’s visit would “seriously undermine China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, adversely affect the foundation of China-U.S. relations, and send a very erroneous signal to Taiwan independence forces.”
The official continued, “If the United States were to insist on taking the incorrect course, China will take serious and forceful measures to preserve its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Although Biden initially pressed American intelligence agencies to look into the COVID-19 pandemic’s Chinese roots, the initiative now appears to have halted.
Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID Response Coordinator, was making the rounds on the morning shows on Friday when he claimed to have last spoken to Biden’s medical staff at about 10 p.m. on Thursday.
Biden was “doing perfectly fine,” according to him, and “the symptoms were pretty much the same,” he claimed on CNN.
Jha disputed that Biden’s advanced age may make battling the virus more difficult on ABC’s Good Morning America.
Jha responded, “He is about as well-protected for this virus as he can be,” citing the president’s four COVID vaccinations in addition to his prescription for the antiviral Paxlovid.
At the Friday afternoon White House press briefing, Jsa will be there once more.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Physician to the President, has not yet been made available to the media due to resistance from the White House.