Chris Megerian, The Associated Press Published Saturday, July 23, 2022 1:42 PM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden may have contracted a highly contagious strain of the coronavirus that is spreading rapidly in the United States and is now suffering from body aches and a sore throat after his positive test, according to an update from his doctor on Saturday.
The variant, known as BA.5, is a branch of the omicron strain that emerged late last year and is believed to be responsible for the majority of coronavirus cases in the country.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, wrote in his latest update on Biden’s condition that Biden’s earlier symptoms, including a runny nose and cough, had become “less bothersome.” O’Connor’s earlier notes did not mention the pain in the throat or body.
Biden’s vital signs, such as blood pressure and respiratory rate, “remain completely normal,” and his oxygen saturation levels are “excellent” with “absence of shortness of breath at all,” the doctor wrote.
O’Connor said the preliminary sequencing results showing the BA.5 variant did not affect Biden’s treatment plan “in any way.”
Biden tested positive for the virus Thursday morning. Since then, he has isolated himself in the White House residence. Administration officials stressed that his symptoms were mild because he received four doses of the vaccine and began taking the antiviral drug Paxlovid after contracting the infection.
During a virtual meeting with economic advisers on Friday, Biden was hoarse but insisted: “I feel a lot better than I sound.”
In his previous update on Biden’s health, O’Connor said the president had a fever of 99.4 F Thursday night, but it returned to normal after taking Tylenol.
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