Joe Biden’s Covid-19 symptoms have improved, White House physician says
- The US president tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, though his symptoms were mild.
- ‘I anticipate that he will respond favourably’ to treatment, including the antiviral Paxlovid, Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s doctor, says
US President Joe Biden’s condition was improving on Friday, a day after he tested positive for Covid-19, his physician, Kevin O’Connor, said.
In a memo, O’Connor wrote that Biden’s symptoms – a runny nose, fatigue, and a cough – had improved by Friday morning, following a full day’s use of Paxlovid, an antiviral drug. A rise in Biden’s temperature on Thursday evening to 99.4 degrees Fahrenheit (37.4 degrees Celsius) had “responded favourably” to acetaminophen.
Biden’s oxygen levels, blood pressure, respiratory rate and pulse remained “entirely normal”, O’Connor said.
“As I stated previously, the president is fully vaccinated and twice-boosted, so I anticipate that he will respond favourably [to treatment], as most maximally protected patients do,” O’Connor wrote.
“There has been nothing in the course of his illness thus far which gives me cause to alter that initial expectation.”
01:54
US President Joe Biden tests positive for Covid-19
While on his course of Paxlovid, Biden has had to halt his regular intake of other medication to avoid drug interaction. Those include apixaban, blood thinning heart medication, and rosuvastatin, a cholesterol drug.
