WASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 again on Saturday in what the White House doctor described as a “recurring” case seen in a small percentage of patients taking the antiviral drug Paxlovid .
Biden, 79, who emerged from COVID isolation on Wednesday after testing positive on July 21, said he was feeling fine.
He will now return to strict isolation and cancel planned trips to his home in Wilmington and a work trip to Michigan, the White House said. Biden held public events on Wednesday and Thursday, but none on Friday.
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The enforced isolation comes as the White House hoped to celebrate some recent legislative victories to help boost Biden’s slumping poll ratings.
Biden had planned the trip to Michigan to promote legislation passed Thursday to boost the U.S. semiconductor chip industry.
Biden’s positive test is believed to be a “rebound” experienced by some COVID patients taking the antiviral drug Paxlovid, according to White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor. Paxlovid is an antiviral drug from Pfizer Inc ( PFE.N ) that is used to treat high-risk patients, such as older patients.
A small but significant percentage of people who take Paxlovid will experience a relapse or relapse that occurs days after the five-day course of treatment ends, studies show.
U.S. President Joe Biden walks after delivering remarks on the Inflation Relief Act of 2022 at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 28, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
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White House officials previously suggested a second case of COVID was unlikely based on reports of cases across the country. However, Biden continued to be tested and monitored.
Biden tweeted about his positive case, saying it could happen to a “small minority of people.” He later posted a video on Twitter where he said he was “feeling good” and “everything is fine.”
A White House official said contact tracing efforts were underway Saturday after Biden tested positive for COVID-19.
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, also experienced a rebound of COVID-19. His symptoms worsened when they returned after treatment and his doctors prescribed another course of Paxlovid.
O’Connor said Biden has tested negative for the past four days and has no plans to restart treatment given his lack of symptoms.
Biden has previously described his experience with COVID as a cure, saying he was able to continue working while in isolation and crediting his relative ease of illness to vaccines and other treatments.
O’Connor had previously said that Biden would be tested regularly to watch for a potential case of a “rebound” of COVID-19 that could be experienced by some patients who were treated with Paxlovid, the drug that the president has received.
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Reporting by Pete Schroeder, David Shepardson and Jarrett Renshaw; Edited by Aurora Ellis, Alistair Bell and Diane Craft
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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