US President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 again on Saturday, a little more than three days after being cleared to come out of coronavirus isolation, the White House said, in a rare case of “rebound” after treatment with an antiviral drug.
White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor said in a letter that Mr. Biden “has not experienced any recurrence of symptoms and remains quite well.” O’Connor said there is “no reason to restart treatment at this time.”
Joe Biden’s positive test is believed to be the “rebound” positivity experienced by some COVID-19 patients, according to the White House physician. AP
In accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mr. Biden will again self-isolate for at least five days. He will be isolated in the White House until he tests negative. The agency says most cases of rebound remain mild and that serious illness during this period has not been reported.
As when Mr. Biden first tested positive, the White House tried to show that he was still working. The president tweeted a photo of himself masked and strapless, showing him signing a statement adding 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’m fine, everything’s fine,” Mr. Biden said, aviator sunglasses in hand. “But the Commander and I have some work to do.”
Word of Mr. 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 high-tech domestic manufacturing. Biden had also been scheduled to visit his home in Wilmington, Delaware, on Sunday morning, where first lady Jill Biden has been staying while the president tested positive. Both trips have been canceled because Biden is back in isolation.
Mr Biden, 79, was treated with the antiviral drug Paxlovid after he first tested positive on July 21. He tested negative for the virus last Tuesday and Wednesday. He was then cleared to leave isolation while wearing a mask indoors. His positive tests put him among the minority of those who were prescribed the drug to experience a rebound case of the virus.