U.S. President-elect Joe Biden fractured his foot and may wear walking boots for weeks, according to his physician.
Biden reportedly slipped and broke his ankle while playing with his dog Major on Saturday. He sprained his right foot, but initial x-rays did not reveal any apparent fracture, Dr. Kevin O’Connor stressed. Meanwhile, another imaging showed hairline fractures in his mid-foot.
“Initial x-rays did not show any obvious fracture, but his clinical exam warranted more detailed imaging,” O’Connor said. “Follow-up CT scan confirmed hairline (small) fractures of President-elect Biden’s lateral and intermediate cuneiform bones, which are in the mid-foot.”
“It is anticipated that he will likely require a walking boot for several weeks,” the doctor said.
Biden fractured his foot as his team begins the transition into his office.
The Biden transition team has been briefed on Operation Warp Speed, according to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.
He said that Rear Adm. Erica Schwartz, the official in charge of the transition planning effort, discussed the Operation Warp Speed to the Biden transition team on Monday evening. The goal of Operation Warp speed is to distribute a coronavirus vaccine to the public in record time.
“We are immediately getting them all of the pre-prepared transition briefing materials,” Azar said.
“We will ensure coordinated briefings with them to ensure they’re getting whatever information that they feel they need,” Azar stressed, explaining that the “transition planning and execution will be professional, cooperative and collaborative.”
Azar’s update came after the General Services Administration (GSA) officially acknowledged President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
White House coronavirus response Dr. Deborah Birx is also scheduled to brief Biden’s team on Covid-19 pandemic response on Monday.
“I think the one thing that we will be able to bring to the Biden administration in that discussion is to understand how they want to see the data,” Birx said during a Sunday interview on CBS “Face the Nation.”
According to Birx, the federal government has compiled data used to monitor the virus in the past nine months. Birx was concerned about the increase in Covid-19 infections due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
“Going into the Memorial Day weekend we had less than 25,000 a day, we had only 30,000 inpatients in the hospital and we had way less mortality, way under a thousand,” Birx said.
“We’re entering this post-Thanksgiving surge with three, four, and 10 times as much diseases across the country so that’s what worries us the most,” Birx said, referencing her colleague White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci.
“We know people may have made mistakes over the Thanksgiving time period,” Birx said, adding that “if you’re young and you gathered, you need to be tested about five to 10 days later.”
“And if you’re over 65 or you have comorbidities and you gathered at Thanksgiving, if you develop any symptoms, you need to be tested immediately,” Birx said.
“We are immediately getting them all of the pre-prepared transition briefing materials,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on Tuesday.
“We will ensure coordinated briefings with them to ensure they’re getting whatever information that they feel they need,” Azar said, noting that the “transition planning and execution will be professional, cooperative and collaborative.”
