US President Joe Biden has tested negative for Covid-19 after testing positive with a breakthrough case for days, the White House doctor says.
Biden at the White House. (File photo). Photo: Joy Asico/Asico Photo
The Democratic president, "in an abundance of caution," would remain in isolation until he tests negative on a second test, Dr Kevin O'Connor said in a memo released by the White House.
Biden, 79, tested positive for Covid-19 for the first time on 21 July. He emerged from isolation on 27 July, but tested positive again on 30 July in what O'Connor described as a "rebound" case seen in a small percentage of people who have taken the antiviral drug Paxlovid.
The illness had kept Biden from travelling and public events, though he had appeared at meetings virtually. He held two sets of remarks outdoors this week, on Monday to mark the death of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and on Friday to discuss US jobs figures.
Being negative again would allow Biden to go ahead with a planned trip to Kentucky on Monday and participate in bill signings at the White House next week to celebrate a slew of recent legislative victories on semiconductor manufacturing and veterans' health.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told a gathering of journalists in Las Vegas that the White House was eager to get Biden back travelling and speaking to people: "He's been doing very, very well."
Biden suffered mild symptoms, including body aches and cough, during his initial bout with Covid-19. The president is vaccinated and boosted against the disease.
The White House was eager to demonstrate that he was working through his illness, and the president made a point of contrasting his condition with that of his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, whose Covid-19 diagnosis in 2020, before vaccines were available, landed him in a military hospital.
-Reuters