July 27, 2022 – President Joe Biden has tested negative for COVID-19, after testing positive a week ago.
Biden, who has been isolating for the past 5 days, has no fever and his symptoms are “steadily improving,” according to his personal doctor, Kevin O’Connor, DO. The president will resume his normal duties and end his isolation.
The president, 79, says that “unlike his predecessor,” he continued to work from the White House after catching the virus. Former President Donald Trump tested positive in October 2020 and spent several days in the hospital.
Biden is fully vaccinated and has received two booster shots. He has been taking the antiviral drug Paxlovid to aid his recovery.
In a speech in the Rose Garden on Wednesday, Biden touted Paxlovid and its ability to reduce the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and death by around 90%.
Due to rare “rebound” COVID-19 cases in people who have taken Paxlovid, the commander-in-chief will test more frequently, and he will wear a mask around other people for the next 10 days, according to O’Connor.
“The President continues to be very specifically conscientious to protect any of the Executive Residence, White House, Secret Service and other staff whose duties require any (albeit socially distanced) proximity to him,” O’Connor said in a letter to the White House press secretary.
Biden also warned that the new variant upon us – Omicron BA.5 – is easy to catch. But there is no reason to fear, he says.
Free, widely available options, like COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, at-home tests, and drugs like Paxlovid, can help prevent serious illness and death.
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