Nine days after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 and after having tested negative for the disease earlier this week, US President Joe Biden tested positive again on Saturday, Kevin O’Connor said. White House physician.
According to the statement, Biden, 79, is showing no symptoms and is feeling “very well.”
The doctor added that there are no plans to restart treatment due to the lack of symptoms and that the president will only resume isolation procedures.
O’Connor said the current positive test could be a “rebound” effect that is experienced by some patients who have been given the antiviral drug Paxlovid, like Biden.
Diagnosed on the 21st, Biden had spent five days in isolation and recovering from mild symptoms of the disease. He had a fever, cough, sore throat and mild body aches, according to the White House.
The White House doctor had already said that the American president would continue to do tests frequently to see if he would be hit by the rebound effect.
On Saturday, Biden posted on Twitter that the new positive test could happen to a “small minority of people”.
“I have no symptoms, but I will isolate myself for the safety of everyone around me. I am still at work and will be back on the road soon,” he wrote.
The positive test jeopardizes a presidential trip to Michigan scheduled for Tuesday, in which Biden would unveil the recent passage of legislation to boost the semiconductor industry, which the White House announced Saturday morning.
Vaccine
Biden is vaccinated against Covid and has had two booster shots, but the contagion has brought extra concerns due to his age. Paxlovid is used to reduce the risk of serious consequences of the disease.
Even after presenting a negative test, last Wednesday (27), the Democrat maintained the use of a mask when he was not alone. On that day, he spoke to journalists and urged Americans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
“My predecessor had Covid and had to go by helicopter to the hospital, he got very sick. Fortunately, he recovered. When I had Covid, I worked in the White House, upstairs, for five days. [de isolamento]. The difference was the vaccines, of course,” she said.
Former President Donald Trump was infected in October 2020 and, according to White House sources, he was vaccinated only in January 2021.
The US, the country hardest hit by Covid in the world, lost more than 1 million people to the disease. Today, the average is 132,000 new cases and 422 deaths per day. The numbers are much lower than in the worst moments of the crisis: the peaks were more than 3,000 daily deaths due to the virus.
Although the infection continues to take its toll, Americans have abandoned almost all protective measures in recent months. The use of masks is no longer mandatory in almost any situation, and few people still use the item on a daily basis. In the US, 67% of the inhabitants have their first vaccination cycle complete, and 79% have taken at least one dose of immunization against Covid.
