U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to the media as he arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S. July 20, 2022.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
President Joe Biden on Saturday examined constructive for Covid-19 as soon as once more after consecutive days of testing detrimental for the virus, his doctor stated.
Biden, 79, is experiencing no new signs and “continues to really feel fairly effectively,” Dr. Kevin O’Connor stated in a memo shared by the White Home.
However he’ll nonetheless “reinitiate strict isolation procedures,” the presidential doctor wrote.
Biden, who’s totally vaccinated and has obtained two booster photographs of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, tweeted Saturday afternoon that he was asymptomatic however would isolate “for the protection of everybody round me.”
“I am nonetheless at work, and shall be again on the street quickly,” the president’s tweet stated.
O’Connor had beforehand warned of the potential for a “rebound” in constructive check outcomes, a phenomenon amongst a small share of sufferers who, like Biden, used the antiviral medicine Paxlovid as a part of their remedy.
Biden had accordingly “elevated his testing cadence, each to guard folks round him and to guarantee early detection of any return of viral replication,” O’Connor wrote within the newest memo, which was made public Saturday afternoon.
The president examined detrimental for Covid on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, however examined constructive on Saturday morning from an antigen check. “This in reality represents ‘rebound’ positivity,” the physician wrote.
Biden’s age places him at increased threat of getting severely ailing from Covid. Individuals over age 65 account for greater than 81% of deaths from the virus, which has killed greater than 1 million folks within the U.S. alone, based on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.
The president first examined constructive for Covid on July 21. He felt “delicate signs” together with a dry cough, runny nostril and fatigue, O’Connor stated on the time. Biden started working in isolation however returned to the Oval Workplace 5 days later after testing detrimental for Covid twice over a 24-hour interval.
“The President has skilled no reemergence of signs, and continues to really feel fairly effectively,” O’Connor wrote in Saturday’s memo after Biden’s rebound check. “This being the case, there is no such thing as a purpose to reinitiate remedy right now, however we’ll clearly proceed shut remark.”
“Nonetheless, given his constructive antigen check, he’ll reinitiate strict isolation procedures. As I’ve acknowledged beforehand, the President continues to be very particularly conscientious to guard any of the Govt Residence, White Home, Secret Service and different employees whose duties require any (albeit socially distanced) proximity to him,” O’Connor wrote.