US President-elect Joe Biden has a foot fracture and will likely have to wear a medical boot, his team said, after the 78-year-old slipped while playing with his dog.

US President-elect Joe Biden has a foot fracture and will likely have to wear a medical boot, his team said.
The 78-year-old was taken to the doctor after he had slipped while playing with his dog.
Biden, who will become the oldest US president upon his January swearing-in, suffered the injury on Saturday with Major, one of his two German shepherds.
The president-elect’s personal physician Kevin O’Connor initially said x-rays had not uncovered any “obvious fracture”, but added that an additional CT scan would still be done.
That scan “confirmed hairline (small) fractures… in the mid-foot,” O’Connor said in a subsequent statement released by Mr Biden’s office.
He added that the former vice president, who won election against Donald Trump in November, “will likely require a walking boot for several weeks”.
With both Mr Biden and Mr Trump in their 70s, age was an issue in the presidential race, even if it often took a backseat to pressing matters like the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Get well soon!” Mr Trump said on Twitter, in a retweet of an NBC video showing Mr Biden leaving an orthopedic office.
Get well soon! https://t.co/B0seiO84ld
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2020
Mr Trump’s health was briefly of intense concern when he caught Covid-19, but the president resumed campaigning after getting a series of treatments, including an experimental antibody cocktail.
Trump, a famously finicky germophobe, was the first president in over a century to not have a dog.
The Bidens fostered and then adopted Major in 2018, while Champ has been with the family since 2008.
Jill Biden with Champ in 2012
Biden officials have said Major will become the first rescue dog to live in the White House.
Meanwhile, Mr Biden has announced an all-female senior White House communications team, in what his office called a first in the country’s history.
Among those named was Jen Psaki, who will serve in the highly visible role of White House press secretary.
Ms Psaki, 41, has held a number of senior positions, including White House communications director for the Barack Obama-Biden administration.
Mr Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have sought to emphasize diversity in their appointments and nominations so far ahead of their swearing-in.
“I am proud to announce today the first senior White House communications team comprised entirely of women,” Mr Biden said in a statement.
“These qualified, experienced communicators bring diverse perspectives to their work and a shared commitment to building this country back better.”
In addition to Ms Psaki, six other appointments were announced.
Honored to work again for @JoeBiden, a man I worked on behalf of during the Obama-Biden Admin as he helped lead economic recovery, rebuilt our relationships with partners (turns out good practice) and injected empathy and humanity into nearly every meeting I sat in.
— Jen Psaki (@jrpsaki) November 29, 2020
They include Kate Bedingfield, who was Mr Biden’s deputy campaign manager, as White House communications director.
Ms Bedingfield had also served as Mr Biden’s communications director when he was vice president.
Other appointees include Ashley Etienne as communications director for Ms Harris and Symone Sanders as Ms Harris’s senior advisor and chief spokeswoman.
Pili Tobar was named deputy White House communications director and Karine Jean Pierre will be principal deputy press secretary.
Elizabeth Alexander was named communications director for incoming First Lady Jill Biden.
The appointments do not require Senate confirmation unlike most cabinet-level positions.