▶ Watch Video: White House: President Biden’s COVID symptoms improving
President Biden’s COVID-19 symptoms have “almost completely resolved” as he takes his final course of Paxlovid for COVID-19 Monday, according to the president’s physician. The remaining symptoms are residual nasal congestion and a slightly hoarse voice.
Mr. Biden is technically on his fourth day of COVID-19, since the first day of symptoms or a positive test is considered day zero, and the White House says he will remain in isolation until he receives a negative test. The president is wrapping up a five-day course of the antiviral drug Paxlovid, and taking a low dose of aspirin as an alternative blood thinner in the meantime.
“President Biden completed his fourth full day of PAXLOVID last night,” Dr. Kevin O’Connor, physician to the president, said in a letter released Monday. “His symptoms have no almost completely resolved. When questioned, at this point he only notes some residual nasal congestion and minimal hoarseness. His pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and temperature remain absolutely normal. His oxygen saturation continues to be excellent on air room. His lungs remain clear.”
O’Connor added that the president “continues to tolerate treatment well” and isn’t experiencing shortness of breath.
On Monday afternoon, the president took a few questions from reporters after a virtual meeting on the Chips Act and the importance of manufacturing semiconductors in the U.S. Mr. Biden said he hopes to return to work in person by the end of the week, and it’s still his intention to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week. He confirmed that a sore throat is his main lingering symptom.
“I’m feeling good,” the president told reporters. “My voice is still raspy. I’ve had — every morning, every afternoon, every evening I get a full blown series of tests, everything from temperature to the oxygen in my blood to my pulse … and so far, everything’s good.”
Mr. Biden told reporters he slept so well Sunday night that his dog had to wake him up, nuzzling his chest shortly before 7 a.m. The president’s account tweeted out a photo of him working from the White House balcony Monday.
The president contracted the highly transmissible BA.5 variant, as White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha explained on CBS News “Face the Nation” Sunday. Jha and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will brief reporters Monday afternoon.
The president has been working from the White House residence since Thursday, taking meetings virtually. On top of his usual presidential daily brief the president will meet virtually with CEOs and labor leaders on the need to pass the CHIPS Act to promote semiconductor manufacturing, and he will deliver a virtual address to the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives Conference.
