Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa covering President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. government, UN, IMF, World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington and New York.
United States President Joseph R. Biden Jr. ‘continues to feel well’ after his rebound positivity announced on Saturday, his physician Kevin O’Connor said in a statement on Sunday. President Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday morning after testing negative on Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning and Friday morning. He is isolating at the White House until he tests negative and will no longer travel to Wilmington or Michigan as planned.
“The President continues to feel well. Given his rebound positivity which we reported yesterday, we continued daily monitoring. This morning, unsurprisingly, his SARS-CoV-2 antigen testing remained positive,” O’Connor wrote on Sunday, adding that Mr. Biden will continue his strict isolation until he tests negative.
“He will continue to conduct the business of the American people from the Executive Residence. As I have stated previously, 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,” added O’Connor.
In his letter on Saturday, O’Connor said President Biden “has experienced no reemergence of symptoms, and continues to feel quite well.”
“As described last week, acknowledging the potential for so-called “rebound” COVID positivity observed in a small percentage of patients treated with Paxlovid, the President increased his testing cadence, both to protect people around him and to assure early detection of any return of viral replication,” O’Connor wrote in his statement on Saturday. “After testing negative on Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning and Friday morning, the President tested positive late Saturday morning, by antigen testing. This in fact represents “rebound” positivity.”
O’Connor said “there is no reason to reinitiate treatment at this time, but we will obviously continue close observation.”
“As I’ve stated previously, 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,” he added.