President biden as i was walking out, i thought i heard my staff saying, he is back. [laughter] President Biden hello, everyone, i have just tested negative for covid19 after isolating for five days. [cheers and applause] President Biden im not able to return to work in person but i thank you all for your prayers and well wishes and the calls i have gotten and thank the medical team here at the white house for the incredible care they gave me. Fortunately, god thankfully and god willing, my symptoms were mild. My recovery was quick and im feeling great. The entire time i was in isolation, i was able to work to carry out the duties of the Office Without interruption. It is a real statement of where we are in the fight against covid19. Right now, we are facing a new variant, ba5, transmiss i believe version of the variant we saw this past winter. This new variant that infected me is getting people infected all around the world, not just here in the united states. We should take precautions. We made billions of funding available to improve ventilation in schools and public buildings and made tests widely available so you can take one before attending a large indoor gathering. We made high quality masks available for free and you should consider wearing a mask when you are in a crowded indoor public place. These precautions add extra layer of protection for you and those around you. But the reality ba5 means many of us are going to get covid even if we take the present cowings. That doesnt mean we are doing anything wrong. This covid is still with us, as it has been for 2 1 2 years. Our fight against covid is making a huge difference. Whats different now is our ability to protect ourselves from serious you illness due to covid. In fact, that is different today than it was just a year ago. Covid isnt gone, but even with cases climbing in this country, covid deaths are down nearly 90 . And when i duke office that is 90 difference today than when i took office. That is what is new. Different from where we are just a year ago. Even if covid if you get covid, you could wind up with a severe case. You cannot prevent most covid deaths and thats because three free tools my administration has invested in, booster shots, athome tests and easy to use effective treatments. We got through covid i got through with no fear. A very mild discomfort because of these essential life saving tools. And i want to remind everybody, they are free, they are convenient and they are safe and they work. First, booster shots. They werent available a year ago, they are now, everywhere. Every person aged 5 and over. If you are over 50, get two booster shots. I did. And if you are under 50 and 20 of two over 50, your odds of getting severe covid is very, very low. And most covid deaths are among those who are not up to date on their shots, covid vaccinations. If you are over 50 and havent gotten a booster shot this year go get one right now. Go to covid. Gov and find a place where you can get a booster shot for free usually at a site that is less than five miles from your home. Second, athome tests. A year ago athome tests were rare and expensive. And now in america, you can get them from free shipped to their door, shipped to their door. There is no excuse. Go to covid. Gov and order at home tests for free. Testing to find out if your symptoms mean you have covid is critical in getting treatment quickly. Third, treatments, if you test positive, we have a new treatment called packs low vin. Is now its a pill. And now you can take these pills at home and get them free at tens of local drug stores. The food and drug administration, the f. D. A. Put in a special rule so many pharmacists can prescribe this particular drug. You dont have to go to the doctor to get a prescription. Many americans have used paxlovid. I used it. [laughter] about. President biden this lifesaving drug reduces hospitalization and death by about 90 . Again, its free, safe and easy to take. And we moved quickly to make it widely available including tests to treat sites where you can get tested and if you need it, paxlovid is right there. Go to covid. Gov to find where treat and testing sites are near you. When my predecessor got covid, he had to go walter reed. Thankfully he recovered. When i got recovered, i worked from upstairs in the white house and for that fiveday period. Vaccinations is the difference. Three new tools. Treated all and widely available. You dont need to be president to get these tools to use for your defense. In fact, the same booster shots and same athome tests and same treatment i got is available to you. All americans across the country from all works of life have free access to those tools. Covid was killing thousands of americans a day when i got here. That isnt the case anymore. You can live without fear by doing what i did, get boosted, get tested and get treatment. At the same time, my Administration Remains vigilant. We have the tools to keep you from getting severely ill or dying from covid, but we are not stopping there. Earlier this week, we had a conference at the white house for about the next generation of vaccines with the goal of keeping people from getting sick, even getting it. Let me close with this. Over the past 18 months my administration has left no stone unturned in our fight against this pandemic, none. We brought down deaths by 90 since i took office. Businesses and schools responded. Grandparents are hugging their grandkids again. Weddings, birthdays are happening again. Lets keep emerging from one of the darkest moments in our history with hope and light for what can come. Get vaccinated if you havent already and now get boosted. Order your free tests. If you get sick, seek treatment. Take advantage of these lifesaving tools. We have more of these tools than we have ever had before. My friends in congress, lets keep investing in these tools, vaccinations, treatments and tests and more to make them available to the American People on a permanent basis. Lets get when i say permanent basis as long as they are needed. God bless you all. And now, i get to go back to the oval office. Thank you very much. [cheers and applause] captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org. Cspans washington journal every day. We are taking your calls live on the air and will discuss policy issues. Coming up this morning, we will talk about the defense issues and the shortages in the u. S. Army. Then well discuss the Senate DemocratsPrescription Drug reform both National Journals air jurgen and Nevada Democratic representative dena titus and supply chain issues in semiconductor technology. Watch washington journal live at 7 00 eastern this morning on cspan or sees an, our free mobile app. Join latest join the discussion with your phone calls, Text Messages and tweets. Today, members of congress will participate in their annual baseball game in washington dc live coverage from Nationals Park begins at 7 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Can also watch on cspan now, our free mobile video app or online at cspan. Org. Federal reserve chairman Jerome Powell says he does not think the economy is in recession