Biden has sore throat and body aches, but COVID symptoms improving -physician
By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 signs proceed to enhance and now embrace “much less troublesome” sore throat, runny nostril, unfastened cough and physique aches, his doctor, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, mentioned in a memo on Saturday.
Biden’s lungs stay clear and his oxygen saturation “continues to be glorious on room air,” the physician mentioned.
Biden, 79, examined constructive for COVID on Thursday, when the White Home mentioned he was experiencing gentle signs. His prognosis got here as a extremely contagious subvariant of the coronavirus drives a brand new wave of instances in the USA.
Biden probably has that BA5 variant, O’Connor mentioned.
“The President continues to tolerate remedy nicely. We’ll proceed PAXLOVID as deliberate,” he mentioned, referring to the Pfizer Inc antiviral drug the president is taking.
Biden shouldn’t be experiencing shortness of breath, O’Connor mentioned. “The BA5 variant is especially transmissible and he’ll proceed to isolate,” O’Connor mentioned. “We’ll proceed to watch him intently, throughout this quite common outpatient remedy routine.”
The White Home has sought to underscore Biden’s skill to work by way of his sickness. On Thursday it launched a video of the president reassuring Individuals he was doing positive, and on Friday he participated in digital conferences with White Home employees.
His schedule confirmed no presidential occasions over the weekend. The president’s spouse, first woman Jill Biden, is at their residence in Wilmington, Delaware. She examined adverse for COVID-19 on Saturday morning, in accordance with her spokesperson, Michael LaRosa.
The White Home has not mentioned the place Biden contracted the virus. He just lately returned from a visit to the Center East and held public occasions earlier than that journey during which he had shut private interactions with scores of individuals.
Biden’s prognosis is the newest problem he has confronted amid threats to his coverage agenda on Capitol Hill and excessive inflation placing his fellow Democrats vulnerable to shedding management of Congress within the November midterm elections.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Modifying by Diane Craft and Daniel Wallis)
