乔·拜登总统周一前往肯塔基州调查严重水灾造成的损失这次访问也标志着他的第一次正式旅行因为上个月他的COVID-19检测呈阳性。
他于周一早上抵达列克星敦，与当地官员讨论洪水问题，洪水造成至少37人死亡雨水浸泡了东部之后国家的。周日，总统修改了肯塔基州现有的紧急声明，以释放额外的灾难援助。
拜登和第一夫人吉尔拜登会见了州长安迪贝希尔和肯塔基州第一夫人英国贝希尔。拜登夫妇还访问了受洪水影响的家庭，并在损失现场Lost Creek进行了一次未经宣布的停留。
在Lost Creek，总统重申了他的联邦援助承诺，“直到每个人都回到他们原来的地方。”
拜登说，他刚刚在他演讲的马路对面遇到一个人，他告诉他，他不想对联邦政府“要求太多”，因为那里的人习惯于“让邻居帮助我们”。
“我说，‘你在开玩笑吧。’说真的。他指出，事情是这样的，在肯塔基州西部这个社区的人们，以及我在去年龙卷风后遇到的人们，他们不仅仅是肯塔基州人，他们也是美国人。他们是美国人。这发生在美国!美国问题!我们都是美国人，每个人都有义务提供帮助。我们有能力这样做。这不是我们无法控制的。天气现在可能超出我们的控制，但是它不是超出我们的控制。"
拜登还向当地家庭承诺，他会“回来”，因为他希望看到该地区一旦重建。
“这需要一段时间来度过难关。但我向你保证，我们不会离开。联邦政府和所有的资源，我们不会离开。只要需要，我们都会在这里，”总统在周一关于洪水的单独圆桌会议上说。
“我们希望以同样的方式帮助每一个人，每一个美国人，”他补充道。“但一些寻求帮助的机构——一些民主党人、共和党人，这无关紧要——一些人不知道该怎么做，因为他们认为他们可以使用它。”
贝希尔和拜登一起赞扬了慈善机构已经进入该州的援助，但表示联邦援助将在洪水恢复中发挥很大作用。
乔·拜登总统、第一夫人吉尔·拜登和肯塔基州州长安迪·贝希尔在视察灾情时，看着一辆被洪水冲走的公共汽车...显示更多undefined
吉姆·沃森/法新社通过盖蒂图片
“我们被衣服、水和其他东西弄得不知所措。那里有很多好的慈善机构，包括我们在东肯塔基龙卷风救援基金的团队、红十字会和其他机构，但是我们现在需要的是美元和中长期重建。
周一离开肯塔基州，拜登在从列克星敦起飞前再次谈到两党的成功。
“我认为这是美好的一天，我们将在肯塔基州做很多事情，”他说。
一名记者问道，鉴于以下情况，为什么他关于两党成功的信息没有引起共鸣他“糟糕”的投票数字
“你知道，回家的路很长。事实是，我们已经分裂了很长时间，直到最近我们才有任何形式的运动，我认为你会看到很多变化，”他说。
拜登此前曾于12月访问肯塔基州，调查该州的龙卷风破坏情况。
周一起飞前，他在多佛空军基地告诉记者，他感觉“很好”，当天早上再次检测COVID呈阴性。在所谓的病毒反弹病例后，他在第二次检测呈阴性后，于周日首次获准离开隔离。
总统上个月测试呈阳性，据他的医生说，他出现了轻微的症状，包括轻微发烧、咳嗽和喉咙痛。在第一次阳性测试后不到一周，他的测试结果为阴性，但几天后又接受了另一次阳性测试。
在与COVID的最初较量中，Biden服用了Paxlovid，这是一种针对高危患者的关键治疗药物，可防止住院和其他严重后果。但是在病人完成疗程后，它有时会产生反弹病例。
在获得解除隔离的许可后，拜登回到了他在特拉华州Rehoboth Beach的家，然后在周一前往肯塔基州。
Biden travels to survey Kentucky flood damage in first presidential trip after COVID isolation
President Joe Biden on Monday traveled to Kentuckyto survey damage from severe floodingin the state -- a visit that also markshis first official tripsince he tested positive for COVID-19 last month.
He landed in Lexington on Monday morning to talk with local officials about the flooding, which killed at least 37 peopleafter rain soaked the eastern partof the state. On Sunday, the president amended an existing emergency declaration for Kentucky to free up additional disaster assistance.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden met with Gov. Andy Beshear and Kentucky first lady Britainy Beshear. The Bidens also visited families affected by the flooding and made an unannounced stop at Lost Creek, site of some of the damage.
In Lost Creek, the president reaffirmed his promise of federal assistance “until everybody is back where they were.”
Biden said he had just met one man across the road from where he was speaking who told him that he didn’t “want to ask too much” of the federal government because people there are used to “having neighbors help us out.”
“I said, ‘You're kidding me.’ Seriously. And he pointed out that -- here's the deal, it is true that the people here in this community, in Western Kentucky and the folks I've met [after last year's] tornado, they’re not just Kentuckians, they're Americans. They're Americans. This happened in America! American problem! And we're all Americans, everybody has an obligation to help," Biden said. "We have the capacity to do this. It's not like it's beyond our control. The weather may be beyond our control for now, but it's not beyond our control."
Biden also promised local families that he was “coming back” because he wanted to see the area once it was rebuilt.
"It's going to take a while to get through this. But I promise you, we are not leaving. The federal government and all the resources, we're not leaving. As long as it takes, we're going to be here," the president said at a separate roundtable event on the flooding on Monday.
"We want to help everybody, every American the same way," he added. "But some outfits who are asking for help -- some Democrat, Republican, doesn't matter -- some folks don't know what to do with it as quickly as they think they can use it."
Beshear, alongside Biden, praised the assistance that has already come into the state from charities but said federal aid would go a long way in the flood recovery.
"We are overwhelmed with clothes and water and the rest. There are a lot of good charities out there, including our team in Eastern Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund, the Red Cross and others but [what] we need now are the dollars and the medium-term and long-term rebuilding," the governor said.
Leaving Kentucky on Monday, Biden once again spoke of bipartisan success just before taking off from Lexington.
"Think it was a good day, we're going to get a lot done down in Kentucky," he said.
One reporter asked why his message of bipartisan success hasn't been resonating, givenhis "terrible" polling numbers.
"Well it's a long way home, you know. Fact is that we've been divided for so long and it's really recently that we have any kind of movement, and I think you're going to see a lot of change," he said.
Biden previously visited Kentucky in December to survey tornado damage in the state.
He told reporters at Dover Air Force Base before flying on Monday that he felt "great" and again tested negative for COVID that morning. He was first cleared to leave isolation Sunday after testing negative for a second time following a so-called rebound case of the virus.
The president tested positive last month and, according to his doctor, experienced mild symptoms including a slight fever, cough and sore throat. He tested negative less than a week after that first positive test but received another positive test just days after that.
During his initial bout with COVID, Biden took Paxlovid, which is a key therapeutic for high-risk patients in preventing hospitalization and other severe outcomes. But it at times produces a rebound case after a patient finishes their course of treatment.
After he got the green light to leave isolation, Biden traveled to his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, before traveling Monday to Kentucky.
