Biden has COVID-19 and didn’t wear a mask. CDC’s guidelines say he doesn’t have to

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — President Joe Biden did not wear a face mask in public a couple of times after the White House announced he had tested positive for COVID-19. The White House said the Democratic incumbent was experiencing “mild” symptoms while the president’s physician said Biden would self-isolate “in accordance with CDC guidance for symptomatic individuals.”

What does the CDC guidance say? What does the White House say?

After the announcement on Wednesday, Biden emerged bare-faced from the motorcade after he arrived at the airport in Las Vegas, where he had made several appearances, and boarded Air Force One. He also was not wearing a mask, which medicals professionals have said can help slow the spread of disease, as he stepped off the plane hours later at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Biden was surrounded by Secret Service agents and aides on both ends of the trip.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in Wednesday’s announcement that Biden, 81, was experiencing “mild” symptoms and would stick to prearranged plans to travel to his home in Rehoboth Beach, where he would isolate.

Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, said in a separate statement that Biden had a runny nose, dry cough and a feeling of “general malaise.” He said Biden was being treated with the drug Paxlovid “and will be self-isolating in accordance with CDC guidance for symptomatic individuals.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages people recovering from COVID-19 or any other respiratory illness to wear masks as part of an overall strategy to reduce transmission, but masks are not mandated.

The CDC recommends that people “stay home and away from others” if they’re feeling sick. They say people can resume normal activities when symptoms have started to improve and the person no longer has a fever.

The CDC describes masks as an “additional strategy” for preventing disease spread, but it generally leaves it up to individuals to decide whether to use them. It calls masks “especially helpful” when someone is sick and suggests they be used as a precaution during recovery.

The White House has not responded to an emailed request for comment about why Biden chose not to wear a mask.

O’Connor said Thursday that Biden is still experiencing mild upper respiratory symptoms from COVID-19,. The president does not have a fever and his vital signs remained normal. He’s being treated with the drug Paxlovid.

Quentin Fulks, the principal deputy manager of Biden’s reelection campaign, said Thursday that Biden was “feeling fine” and was making calls and doing work. Fulks spoke at a news conference on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters during a separate Zoom briefing that Biden was “being kept up to speed as appropriate by his leadership team, and certainly that includes on the national security front.”

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Associated Press writers Mike Stobbe in New York and Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.