Las Vegas police rushed to secure a local hospital and the roads leading to it the day Joe Biden was diagnosed with COVID.
Conspiracy theorists argued that the president was sicker than the White House had revealed. And local media reported that medical and law enforcement teams gathered at Valley Hospital to prepare for Biden’s arrival.
President Biden did not seek medical treatment at the hospital, but instead went to the airport and departed Las Vegas on Air Force One to self-isolate at his beach house in Rehoboth, Delaware.
But police recordings from July 17, obtained by DailyMail.com, show the hospital was ready to receive the president as police noted: “POTUS is 421,” which is the police code for a sick or injured person.
“For everyone on the radio. Right now, the president is on 421. He’s being picked up, so we’re waiting to see how this plays out,” the operator said. “Right now he’s on 421. We’re trying to figure out what’s going on and we’ll go from there.”
President Joe Biden in Lindo Michocan shortly before testing positive for COVID
The recording shows the frantic call from everyone involved after law enforcement learned of Biden’s diagnosis.
“Asking for ‘any available units to come to Valley Hospital,'” a police officer says on the recording.
“I have four units,” is the reply.
“That’s not enough,” the operator replies.
Additional officers were requested to gather in the parking lot of the Valley Hospital emergency room.
“We’ll meet behind the emergency entrance, where the ambulances come through. There’s a little dead end back there,” is the order given.
At the time, Biden was at Lindo Michoacán, a popular Mexican restaurant in downtown Las Vegas. He greeted customers and then conducted a radio interview.
But then he stayed another 90 minutes. His next event, a talk at UnidosUS, was cancelled.
From about 1:40 p.m. Pacific time, when Biden ended his radio interview, until shortly after 3 p.m., when the motorcade departed, it remained unclear why the president remained inside the restaurant.
Mason Van Houweling, the hospital’s chief executive, said local media They were alerted around 2:15 p.m. about a possible medical issue with the president.
“We didn’t have the details on that, but we were ready and prepared to be able to address whatever the president needed,” Van Houweling said.
He said the hospital team worked with local and state law enforcement to secure the perimeter and also protect patients inside the building along with the president, in case he was taken to the medical center.
“We were prepared,” Van Houweling said. “We knew it was more of a medical issue – there was no chance of trauma or accident.”
He said the hospital was in contact with Biden’s security team and did not leave until Air Force One departed with the president on board.
“There was no medical emergency,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at her Monday briefing. She noted that the president had simply tested positive for COVID-19.
“People keep testing positive for COVID,” he said.
President Joe Biden boards Air Force One in Las Vegas after testing positive for COVID
A US Secret Service agent opens the blinds housing the Beast presidential limousine in Las Vegas
While Biden was detained at the restaurant, local law enforcement was preparing to move him.
The procedure for transporting a president involves closing roads so that a police escort can move the caravan without obstacles along the way.
As Biden sat in the restaurant, a call could be heard for police to dispatch all available units to the city center.
“Right now,” the operator said, pointing, “we’re going to shut everything down.”
The dispatcher also noted, “The Secret Service is requesting a code three response,” which is police code for officers to respond to a call using lights and sirens.
From there, radio traffic directed units where to go and which streets to close.
“The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department was notified that President Joe Biden was ill on July 17 during his visit to Las Vegas,” law enforcement said after the incident.
‘We were unaware of the nature of his illness. As a precaution, the Las Vegas Police Department (LVMPD) began proactively closing roads leading to UMC Hospital. The Secret Service then informed the Las Vegas Police Department that the President was heading directly to Harry Reid International Airport and would be leaving Las Vegas.’
The White House did not publicly announce Biden’s condition until minutes before the motorcade left the restaurant.
“President Biden has tested positive for COVID-19. He will return to Delaware, where he will isolate and continue to perform all of his duties during that time,” Jean-Pierre said in a statement at the time.
President Joe Biden in the presidential limousine The Beast
President Biden arrives at Dover Air Force Base; he will self-isolate at his home in Rehoboth
Biden eventually made his way to the airport to catch a flight back to the East Coast. He recovered at his beach house and, from there, announced that he was resigning from his position as the Democratic candidate.
But in Las Vegas, police were pleased to have gotten the president home safely.
“Excellent job,” the operator said as Air Force One took off. “We pulled it off on the fly. I appreciate all the resources they provided us. They did a fantastic job. It felt like we had been planning this for weeks.”