WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday “as could be anticipated,” his physician said in a memo released by the White House.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor that the president continues to feel well and would continue isolation measures.
Biden’s rebound case arrived on the heels of negative tests on Tuesday and Wednesday. He tested positive for the virus again on Saturday.
O’Connor said “rebound” cases occur in a small percentage of patients who take the antiviral drug Paxlovid — which the president was prescribed.
Biden, 79, has not experienced a reemergence of symptoms but will isolate until testing negative.
A rebound case like the one Biden has is “extremely uncommon,” Dr. Anthony Harris, CEO of Hfit Health, told NewsNation.
“It’s about 1% of the population treated with Paxlovid that experience a rebound,” Harris said. “The good news is that we shouldn’t be seeing this occur in the general population, again, no more than 1%.”
White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha told reporters on July 25 that data “suggests that between 5 and 8% of people have rebounded” after Paxlovid treatment.
