Biden retests positive for COVID-19 after antiviral therapy

US President Joe Biden has again tested positive for COVID-19 three days after testing negative for the virus following an antiviral therapy, the White House physician declared, insisting that he is not experiencing any symptoms.

“The President has not experienced any reemergence of symptoms and is feeling quite well,” White House physician Kevin O’Connor announced in a memo released on Saturday, noting: “This being the case, there is no reason to reinitiate treatment at this time, but we will obviously continue close observation.”

Biden also went online to confirm that he had retested positive in a Twitter post on Saturday, writing: “Folks, today I tested positive for COVID again. This happens with a small minority of folks. I’ve got no symptoms but I am going to isolate myself for the safety of everyone around me. I’m still at work, and will be back on the road soon.”

The 79-year-old US president was not masked at public events he attended at the end of the week, which is in conflict with guidelines spelled out by the country’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that insists people should wear a mask for 10 days after a COVID infection.

He is now expected to isolate for another five days per CDC guidance. His returning symptoms are described by health authorities as an example of a rebound COVID-19 case, a phenomenon that has happened in some cases after people take Paxlovid, an antiviral therapy from Pfizer.

Biden is isolated in the White House residence and will not be leaving Sunday, as planned, to his Delaware home to join his wife, said a White House official as cited in local press reports, adding, “He will not go to Delaware or to Michigan and he is isolating in the White House residence.”

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According to US news outlets, Biden experienced mild symptoms in the upper floors of the White House after he tested positive for the coronavirus a week ago Thursday. He completed an initial five-day course of Paxlovid on Monday, and on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning tested negative for the virus and ended isolation.

In late May, the CDC issued a health advisory about the recurrence of symptoms, pointing out that there have been no cases of severe disease as part of this rebound. It further noted that there is currently no evidence that the second round of Paxlovid is necessary for these symptoms to resolve.

However, some physicians have been prescribing the second round of Paxlovid to their patients as a cautionary measure. White House Chief Medical Adviser Anthony Fauci also received two courses of the antiviral drug after experiencing a similar rebound of symptoms.

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