WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Joe Biden’s doctor said the president’s COVID-19 symptoms have improved even though he did “mount a temperature” of 99.4 Thursday evening.
Biden continues to have a runny nose, fatigue and cough, said presidential physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor.
He completed his first day of Paxlovid, an antiviral drug designed to reduce the severity of the disease, and is “tolerating it well,” O’Connor said.
Biden will continue to receive Tylenol and the albuterol inhaler that he uses as needed. His blood thinner and cholesterol medication are being held during the Paxlovid and for “several days” after his last dose.
“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,” O’Connor said. “There has been nothing in the course of his illness thus far which gives me causer to alter that initial expectation.”
Biden will continue to isolate, in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance.
The White House plans to provide a daily update on the president’s status and will inform close contacts of the president about his diagnosis, including members of Congress and the press.
Up to this point, Biden has been able to avoid getting the virus, even as waves of it swept through Washington’s political class, including Vice President Kamala Harris, cabinet members, White House staffers and lawmakers.
First lady Jill Biden has tested negative for the virus.
After more than two years and over a million deaths in the U.S., the virus is still killing an average of 353 people a day in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those who are unvaccinated are at far greater risk, the CDC said, and are two times more likely to test positive and nine times more likely to die from the virus than those who received at least a primary dose of the vaccine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.