US President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 again, just days after the White House said he had been given the green light to leave solitary confinement, in a rare case of ‘bounce back’ after a treatment with an antiviral drug.
White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor said in a letter that Biden “has experienced no recurrence of symptoms and continues to feel reasonably well.” O’Connor said “there is no reason to restart treatment at this time.”
In accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Biden will enter self-isolation again for at least five days. He will self-isolate at the White House until he tests negative. The agency says most rebound cases remain mild and no serious illnesses during this period have been reported.
Much like when Biden first tested positive, the White House sought to show he was still working. The president tweeted a photo of himself in a mask and without a tie, which showed him signing a statement that added individual assistance to flood survivors in Kentucky.
The president followed up by tweeting a 12-second video of himself on a White House balcony with his dog, Commander.
“I feel good, everything is fine,” Biden said, a pair of aviator sunglasses in hand. “But Commander and I have a little work to do.”
Biden treated with antiviral drug Paxlovid
News of Biden’s positive test — he had tested negative Friday morning — came just two hours after the White House announced a presidential visit to Michigan next Tuesday to highlight the passage of a bill to promote manufacturing. high-tech household. Biden was also due to travel to his home in Wilmington, Delaware, on Sunday morning, where first lady Jill Biden stayed while the president tested positive. Both trips were canceled as Biden returned to solitary confinement.
Biden, 79, was treated with the antiviral drug Paxlovid after first testing positive on July 21. He tested negative for the virus last Tuesday and Wednesday. He was then allowed to leave solitary confinement while wearing a mask inside. His positive tests put him among the minority of those prescribed the drug to experience a rebound case of the virus.
White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha recently told reporters that data “suggests that between 5 and 8 percent of people have rebounded” after treatment with Paxlovid.
“Recognizing the potential for so-called ‘rebound’ COVID positivity seen in a small percentage of patients treated with Paxlovid, the President has increased his testing cadence, to protect those around him and ensure early detection of any replication returns viral,” O’ Connor wrote in his letter.
O’Connor cited negative tests for Biden from Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning and Friday morning, before Saturday morning’s positive result by antigen test. “It actually represents ‘rebound’ positivity,” he wrote.
Paxlovid has been shown to significantly reduce serious illness and death in those most vulnerable to COVID-19. US health authorities have encouraged people who test positive to see their doctor or pharmacist to see if treatment should be prescribed, despite the risk of rebound.
euronews Gt