(Washington) US President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 again on Saturday morning without showing symptoms, and will return to isolation to “protect” those around him, his personal doctor announced in a letter distributed by the White House.
Posted at 2:48 p.m.
Updated at 3:20 p.m.
The 79-year-old president “tested positive late Saturday morning according to an antigen test” and “will resume strict containment measures,” wrote the Dr Kevin O’Connor that “rebound” cases of positivity can occur in people treated with Paxlovid, Pfizer’s anti-COVID-19 pill.
As Mr. Biden had tested negative on Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning and Friday morning, “this is definitely rebound positivity”, according to Mr. Biden’s doctor.
“The president has not experienced a re-emergence of symptoms and continues to feel completely well,” he added.
“There is therefore no reason to resume treatment at this stage,” but Mr. Biden, the oldest president ever elected in the United States, will remain under observation, he continued.
Mr Biden had tested positive on July 21 with “very mild symptoms” and was released from confinement on Wednesday after testing negative.
The president, fully vaccinated and who has received two booster doses, is keen to “protect all those […] who have to work near him,” whether White House staff, his bodyguards, or those around him, Dr.r O’Connor.
Paxlovid is an antiviral treatment that works by reducing the ability of the virus to replicate, thus slowing the progression of the disease. It must be taken within the first few days after symptoms appear to be effective.
It is recommended in the United States for people at risk of developing a severe case of the disease, a category into which the American president falls due to his age.
Joe Biden’s predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, announced on October 2, 2020 on Twitter that he had tested positive for COVID-19.
He had been evacuated by helicopter from the White House to the Walter Reed military hospital, and had been treated there for three nights.