Joe Biden heading to hospital for ‘routine physical’ examination

President Joe Biden (Patrick Semansky/AP)

President Joe Biden is heading to Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre on Friday for his first routine physical exam as president.

Plans for the physical were announced in an early morning tweet by White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

This morning, the President will travel to Walter Reed Medical Center for a routine physical.

— Karine Jean-Pierre Archived (@PressSec46) November 19, 2021

Mr Biden, 78, had his last full exam in December 2019, when doctors found the former vice president to be “healthy, vigorous” and “fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency”, according to a doctor’s report at the time.

Dr Kevin O’Connor, who has been Mr Biden’s primary care physician since 2009, wrote in a three-page note that the then-presidential candidate was in overall good shape.