LAS VEGAS   -  US President Joe Biden tested positive for Covid on Wednesday, shortly after conceding that he would consider dropping his troubled reelection bid if he was diagnosed with a serious medical condition.

The 81-year-old Democrat gave media the thumbs up from his limousine and said “I feel good” as he cut short a campaign trip to Las Vegas following the diagnosis.

The White House said he was suffering from a runny nose, cough and “general malaise,” was taking Covid medication, and was flying straight to isolation at his beach house in Rehoboth, Delaware.

The diagnosis came hours after the release of comments by Biden in an interview conducted on Tuesday, in which he said he could step aside as a presidential candidate “if I had some medical condition that emerged.”

It was also the latest development over a dramatic few days in the already frenetic and polarized White House race that saw his rival Donald Trump survive an assassination at a campaign rally of his own.

Biden has been fighting for political survival since a disastrous debate against Trump nearly three weeks ago, in which his tired and confused appearance sparked concerns about his age.

‘Good wishes for early recovery’

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed good wishes for the early recovery of the US President Joe Biden, who has tested positive for COVID-19.

In a statement, the President conveyed his sincere hopes for President Biden’s good health and well-being. The Prime Minister conveyed these sentiments in a post on his X handle.

“Wishing President Biden swift and complete recovery from COVID. Good wishes,” the prime minister wrote on his X timeline.