US President Joe Biden speaks to the media upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US on July 20, 2022.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
President Joe Biden on Saturday tested positive again for Covid-19 after consecutive days of testing negative for the virus, his doctor said.
Biden, 79, is experiencing no new symptoms and “continues to feel quite well,” Dr. Kevin O’Connor said in a note shared by the White House.
But he will nevertheless “resume strict isolation procedures,” the presidential doctor wrote.
Biden, who is fully vaccinated and received two Pfizer-BioNTech booster shots, tweeted Saturday afternoon that he was asymptomatic but would self-isolate “for the safety of everyone around me.”
“I’m still at work and will be back on the road soon,” the president’s tweet read.
O’Connor previously warned of the potential for “bounce” positive test results, a phenomenon among a small percentage of patients who, like Biden, used the antiviral drug Paxlovid as part of their treatment.
Biden has accordingly “increased the frequency of testing, both to protect those around him and to ensure early detection of any resumption of viral replication,” O’Connor wrote in the latest memo, which was published Saturday afternoon.
The president tested negative for Covid on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but tested positive on Saturday morning from an antigen test. “This actually represents ‘rebound’ positivity,” the doctor wrote.
Biden’s age puts him at a higher risk of becoming seriously ill from Covid. People over the age of 65 accounted for more than 81 percent of deaths from the virus, which has killed more than 1 million people in the U.S. alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The President first tested positive for Covid on July 21. He experienced “mild symptoms,” including a dry cough, runny nose and fatigue, O’Connor said at the time. Biden began work in isolation but returned to the Oval Office five days later after testing negative for Covid twice in a 24-hour period.
“The president has not had a recurrence of symptoms and continues to feel quite well,” O’Connor wrote in a note on Saturday after Biden’s recovery test. “As this is the case, there is no reason to resume treatment at this time, but obviously we will continue close monitoring.”
“However, given his positive antigen test, he will re-enter strict isolation procedures. As I said earlier, the president continues to be very conscientious about protecting everyone from the executive residence, the White House, the Secret Service and other officials whose duties require any (however socially distanced) proximity to him,” O’Connor wrote.
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