Washington DC: President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 again Saturday, slightly more than three days after he was cleared to exit Coronavirus isolation, the White House said, in a rare case of rebound following treatment with an anti-viral drug.
White House physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor said in a letter that Biden has experienced no reemergence of symptoms, and continues to feel quite well. O'Connor said there is no reason to reinitiate treatment at this time.
In accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, Biden will reenter isolation for at least five days. He will isolate at the White House until he tests negative. The agency says most rebound cases remain mild and that severe disease during that period has not been reported.
Just as when Biden first tested positive, the White House sought to show he was still working. The president sent out a picture of himself masked and tieless on Twitter, which showed him signing a declaration that added individual assistance for flood survivors in Kentucky.
The president followed up by tweeting out a 12-second video of him on a White House balcony with his dog, Commander.
I'm feeling fine, everything is good, said Biden, a pair of aviator sunglasses in his hand. But Commander and I got a little work to do.
The president also took time on Saturday to have a FaceTime conversation with people camping outside the US Capitol who are seeking health benefits for military veterans exposed to toxic substances from burn pits during their service, according to White House chief of staff Ron Klain. A bill to provide expanded benefits failed to clear the Senate on Wednesday. Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough brought the group pizza and the phone connection to talk with the president.
Feel better, a member of the group told Biden in a video of the call posted to Twitter. Later, in a tweet, the president said he had planned to meet with families at the Capitol but that his positive test got in the way.
Word of Biden's positive test came he had been negative Friday morning just two hours after the White House announced a presidential visit to Michigan this coming Tuesday to highlight the passage of a bill to promote domestic high-tech 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 was positive. Both trips have been canceled as Biden has returned to isolation.
Biden, 79, was treated with the anti-viral drug Paxlovid after he first tested positive
on July 21.