President Biden is doing fine with COVID-19, his doctor said Friday, with his symptoms improving after one day of antiviral treatment and basic Tylenol keeping a mild fever in check.
White House physician Kevin O’Connor said Mr. Biden ran a fever of 99.4 degrees late Thursday but his temperature has been normal since then. He has a runny nose, a dry cough and a deeper voice than usual, but his oxygen levels remain normal.
Dr. O’Connor said Mr. Biden, 79, is tolerating the Paxlovid antiviral well and will drink water and use an albuterol inhaler as needed to manage symptoms.
The president is not taking his prescribed blood thinner while on the Pfizer drug but using aspirin as an alternative.
“As I stated previously, the president is fully vaccinated and twice-boosted, so I anticipate that he will respond favorably, as most maximally protected patients do,” the doctor wrote in a Friday memo. “There has been nothing in the course of his illness thus far which gives me cause to alter that initial expectation.”
Mr. Biden tested positive for the virus Thursday after ducking the pathogen throughout his presidency.
White House COVID-19 coordinator Ashish Jha said he will work from isolation in the White House residence for five days and return to “normal activities” once he tests negative.
Mr. Biden ate his breakfast and lunch, according to Dr. Jha, who joked that the president’s main regret is he hasn’t lost his robust appetite.
The White House identified 17 staff members or members of Congress who were “close contacts” of Mr. Biden, including aides on his senior staff.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines a close contact as someone who is within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative 15 minutes within a 24-hour period.
None of the contacts has tested positive so far, and all of them are wearing masks around other people. No members of the press have been identified as close contacts.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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