UNITED STATES NEWS

President Joe Biden tests positive for COVID-19 again, returns to isolation

Jul 30, 2022, 12:03 PM
President Joe Biden speaks about the economy during a meeting with CEOs in the South Court Auditori...

President Joe Biden speaks about the economy during a meeting with CEOs in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, July 28, 2022. Biden was updated on economic conditions across key sectors and industries. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 again Saturday, slightly more than three days after he was cleared to exit coronavirus isolation, the White House said, in a rare case of “rebound” following treatment with an anti-viral drug.

White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor said in a letter that Biden “has experienced no reemergence of symptoms, and continues to feel quite well.”

In accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, Biden will reenter isolation for least five days. The agency says most rebound cases remain mild and that severe disease during that period has not been reported.

Word of Biden’s positive test came just two hours after the White House announced a presidential visit to Michigan this coming Tuesday to highlight the passage of a bill to promote domestic high-tech manufacturing. Biden had also been scheduled to visit his home in Wilmington, Delaware, on Sunday morning, where first lady Jill Biden has been staying while the president was positive. Both trips have been canceled as Biden has returned to isolation.

Biden, 79, was treated with the anti-viral drug Paxlovid, and tested negative for the virus on Tuesday and Wednesday. He was then cleared to leave isolation while wearing a mask indoors. His positive tests puts him among the minority of those prescribed the drug to experience a rebound case of the virus.

While Biden was testing negative, he returned to holding in-person indoor events and meetings with staff at the White House and was wearing a mask, in accordance with CDC guidelines. But the president removed his mask indoors when delivering remarks on Thursday and during a meeting with CEOs on the White House complex.

Asked why Biden appeared to be breaching CDC protocols, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “They were socially distanced. They were far enough apart. So we made it safe for them to be together, to be on that stage.”

Regulators are still studying the prevalence and virulence of rebound cases, but the CDC in May warned doctors that it has been reported to occur within two days to eight days after initially testing negative for the virus.

“Limited information currently available from case reports suggests that persons treated with Paxlovid who experience COVID-19 rebound have had mild illness; there are no reports of severe disease,” the agency said at the time.

When Biden was initially released from isolation on Wednesday, O’Connor said the president would “increase his testing cadence” to catch any potential rebound of the virus.

White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha told reporters on Monday that “the clinical data suggests that between 5 and 8 percent of people have rebound” after Paxlovid treatment.

Paxlovid has been proven to significantly reduce severe disease and death among those most vulnerable to COVID-19. U.S. health officials have encouraged those who test positive to consult their doctors or pharmacists to see if they should be prescribed the treatment, despite the rebound risk.

Biden is fully vaccinated, after getting two doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine shortly before taking office, a first booster shot in September and an additional dose March 30.

While patients who have recovered from earlier variants of COVID-19 have tended to have high levels of immunity to future reinfection for 90 days, Jha said that the BA.5 subvariant that infected Biden has proven to be more “immune-evasive.”

“We have seen lots of people get reinfected within 90 days,” he said, adding that officials don’t yet have data on how long those who have recovered from the BA.5 strain have protection from reinfection.

United States News

Associated Press

Man gets 25 years in roadside killing of Tennessee nurse

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The man who shot and killed a Tennessee nurse as she was driving to work two years ago was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday, according to the Nashville district attorney’s office. In January, a jury found Devaunte Hill guilty of murder in the death of 26-year-old Caitlyn Kaufman. […]
15 hours ago
The crowd chants "I can't breathe" during a peaceful protest June 3, 2020, in Grand Rapids, Mich., ...
Associated Press

Minneapolis council to discuss post-Floyd policing lawsuit

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minneapolis City Council is set to hold a special meeting Thursday to discuss a potential settlement in a lawsuit filed by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights over the city’s policing practices following the murder of George Floyd. City and state officials had been negotiating the agreement, in fits and starts, […]
15 hours ago
Associated Press

Fiona, Ian retired from list of tropical cyclone names

MIAMI (AP) — Weather officials announced Wednesday that they’re retiring the names Ian from the rotating list of Atlantic tropical cyclone names because of the death and destruction caused by the most recent storms with those names. Farrah will replace Fiona on the lists, and Idris will replace Ian, the World Meteorological Organization said in […]
15 hours ago
A message to the school is one of many at a memorial for victims at an entry to Covenant School, Tu...
Associated Press

Nashville shooting timeline: What we know so far

Monday’s shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville unfolded over approximately 15 minutes as a shooter opened fire inside, killing six people, before police arrived and fatally shot the suspect. Three children and three adults were killed the shooting at The Covenant School. Ever since a May 2022 attack inside a classroom in Uvalde, […]
15 hours ago
FILE - Paul Rusesabagina, who inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda" and is credited with saving more tha...
Associated Press

Freed ‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero Paul Rusesabagina to arrive in US

HOUSTON (AP) — The man who inspired the film “Hotel Rwanda” and was freed by Rwanda last week from a terrorism sentence is set to arrive Wednesday in the United States, where will reunite with his family after being held for more than two years, according to a person familiar with the matter. Paul Rusesabagina’s […]
15 hours ago
Associated Press

7 California officers charged in death of man in custody

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors charged seven California Highway Patrol officers and a nurse with involuntary manslaughter on Wednesday in connection with the 2020 death of a man who screamed “I can’t breathe” while multiple officers restrained him as they tried to take a blood sample. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced the […]
15 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

(Photo: OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center)...

Here’s what you need to know about OCD and where to find help

It's fair to say that most people know what obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders generally are, but there's a lot more information than meets the eye about a mental health diagnosis that affects about one in every 100 adults in the United States.
...
Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

Company looking for oldest air conditioner and wants to reward homeowner with new one

Does your air conditioner make weird noises or a burning smell when it starts? If so, you may be due for an AC unit replacement.
...
Fiesta Bowl Foundation

Celebrate 50 years of Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Parade magic!

Since its first production in the early 1970s, the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Parade presented by Lerner & Rowe has been a staple of Valley traditions, bringing family fun and excitement to downtown Phoenix.
President Joe Biden tests positive for COVID-19 again, returns to isolation