President Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday but will continue to isolate at the White House until he has a second negative test, his doctor said.
dr. Kevin O’Connor wrote in his latest daily update that, “in an abundance of caution,” the president will adhere to the “strict isolation measures” in place since his “rebound” infection was discovered on July 30, while he wait for a negative follow-up test.
Biden, 79, contracted the virus a second time three days after coming out of isolation from his first battle with COVID-19, which was reported on July 21.
Rare rebound cases have been documented in a small minority of those, like Biden, who were prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid, which has been shown to reduce the risk of serious illness and death from the coronavirus in those at the highest risk.
O’Connor wrote that Biden is “still feeling really good.”
Biden’s trip has been put on hold as he awaits negative test results. He plans to visit Kentucky on Monday to review the damage from catastrophic flooding and meet with affected families.
Biden did “great,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Saturday when asked about his health during her performance in Las Vegas at a joint National Assn conference. of black journalists and the National Assn. of Spanish journalists. She said that when she speaks to the president, he tells her to “tell people that I work more than eight hours a day.”
During his first round of the virus, Biden’s main symptoms were a runny nose, fatigue and a loose cough, his doctor said at the time. During his rebound case, O’Connor said only Biden’s cough had returned and it was “almost completely resolved” by Friday.
Regulators are still studying the prevalence and virulence of rebound cases, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned doctors in May that rebounds have been reported within two to eight days after a patient initially tested negative for the virus.
“Limited information currently available from case reports suggests that individuals treated with Paxlovid who experienced COVID-19 rebound have had mild illness; there are no reports of serious illness,” the agency said at the time.
This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
