Biden’s Covid symptoms “have improved,” White House doctor says

by Jul 23, 2022World0 comments

Isolating himself at the White House, Biden has posted on social media several times since his diagnosis that he feels “fine” and continues to perform his presidential duties.

Washington: President Joe Biden’s symptoms “have improved” and his key vital signs, including blood pressure, remain normal, his White House physician said Friday a day after the 79-year-old U.S. leader tested positive for covid.
Isolating himself at the White House, Biden has posted on social media several times since his diagnosis that he feels “fine” and continues to perform his presidential duties.

“His symptoms have improved,” Dr. Kevin O’Connor wrote in a memo to the White House press secretary.

Although Biden was still experiencing a runny nose, cough, and fatigue, his pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation “remain completely normal,” according to O’Connor.

While his temperature rose slightly Thursday night to 99.4 degrees Fahrenheit (37.4 degrees Celsius), Biden was treated with acetaminophen and his temperature has since remained normal, the doctor said.

“The president is tolerating treatment well,” including the antiviral pill Paxlovid, used to minimize the severity of covid-19.

The highly transmissible Omicron BA.5 subvariant is currently fueling a new wave of covid in the United States, where hospitalizations have doubled in recent months.

While Biden is reported to be in generally good health, as the oldest U.S. president elected by age, the concern is growing about the impact of covid.

Facing a grueling workload, Biden, like other presidents before him, has been showing the strain in recent months: his gait is stiffer, his hair thinner and his speech more fluent than when he took office.

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And politically, Biden is in a difficult phase of his presidency, facing midterm elections in November that are predicted to be painful for his Democratic Party, in addition to declining personal approval ratings.

The White House has emphasized since Biden’s diagnosis that the president was fully vaccinated and received two boosters, and O’Connor reiterated that he was expected to “respond favorably” to treatment.

“There has been nothing in the course of his illness so far that gives me a reason to alter that initial expectation,” he wrote.

Biden will continue to isolate himself in accordance with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, and his medical team “will continue to monitor him closely.”

While other members of Biden’s family and many close aides contracted the virus, the president had remained covid-free until now.

Upon taking office, he made sure to adhere to strict covid protocols, holding socially distanced meetings or Zoom meetings and wearing a mask at public events, in stark contrast to his predecessor, Donald Trump.

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